Heart of Death
by sonicXben
Summary: (Prequel to Rise of the Jedi) Harry Potter is sick of the Wizarding World. He is lost, without purpose, until he finds some old relics and a new chance at life. Now crowned a Sith Lord, he builds an Empire and raises an army with the potential to end both the Galactic Republic and the CIS. Will they succeed? Wrong GWL, Greater-Good but Moral Dumbledore. M for very violent themes.
1. Chapter 1: A Purpose In Life

**July 31** **st**

 **1985**

 **11:45 am Earth Time**

 **Potter Mansion**

 **Earth**

* * *

 **Harry Potter's POV:**

* * *

 _ **Updated: 4/24/17**_

* * *

As I am looking out at the vast rolling forest that is on the border of my family manor, sitting down on the manor's roof, I let out a long, depressed sigh.

Today is my 7th birthday, and just like all the ones before, my beloved Girl-Who-Lived sister got most of everything, ranging from presents to attention. While I am loved to a degree, it's always my little sister, Hailey Potter, who's exactly 2 years younger than me, who gets anything she wants her way. At least she asks nicely for what she wants instead of throwing temper tantrums, even if she does get really feisty if she gets frustrated.

But it wasn't always like this. I remember a time when the 2 of us were loved equally by our parents. Even if that time was during the Wizarding War, a war between 2 ideals for all Wizarding Society; Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore fighting for what he has called the 'Greater Good' and the Darkest Wizard of the Century, Lord Voldemort, who wanted 'purebloods' to rule the world. Such a disgusting term. I came along a year after our parents were married, while Hailey was born during the last year of the Wizarding War. Shortly after her birth, we all went into hiding to avoid the Death Eaters and their leader.

My parents thought they could trust Peter Pettigrew with being our secret keeper, but he betrayed my family and his closest friends to his master, the Dark Lord himself. Voldemort didn't wait a second before apparating to our house in Godric's Hollow and breaking in. Had our parents been at the house, they would have died like our babysitter had. But James and Lily were on a funeral that day for Lily's sister, Petunia. Suspecting her of knowing where my family were hiding, Death Eaters had confronted Petunia, tortured her with the Cruciatus Curse for a while and after discovering she knows nothing, killed her instantly. Even if Mom and Petunia supposedly never saw eye-to-eye, her death rattled her heavily.

I remember hearing that day that Petunia's husband, Vernon Dursley, had also fled with their son Dudley immediately after the attack and disappeared from the public eye in case the Death Eaters tried tracking them down again.

After Voldemort killed our babysitter, he stepped over her corpse before looking at us calculatingly. As the eldest child, he picked me to die. But as he cast Avada Kedavra, I feel a surge of hatred towards him and felt raw power course through me, not only shielding me from the killing curse, but reflecting it right back at him. The Dark Lord screamed as his body is torn apart and the room gets trashed from the out of control magic. As a result of the outburst, I got a scar in the shape of a K on my right temple. Hailey received a scar on her temple as well, but her scar's in the shape of the famous lightning bolt.

Sensing the magical explosion, my parents and Dumbledore returned to a damaged house and 2 scared siblings. After Dumbledore ran some tests on us, he concluded that my little sister vanquished the Dark Lord, making her the Girl-Who-Lived. Over the course of a few years, things got worse as both my parents were forced to pay more attention to Hailey whenever we leave home so they could keep her safe from the scum of the Earth known as the paparazzi. It started out small, but as Hailey got older, those nosy reporters got worse and my parents were forced to pay more attention until it all became a formidable habit where she's loved immensely while I'm almost the side show.

But now, I at least have found friends in Fred and George Weasley, Daphne Greengrass and Neville Longbottom. Several others have kept me company, but it never ends up well. Easily the worst is Molly Weasley, with her somewhat bossy attitude and borderline banshee-like voice. My grandparents, Fleamont and Euphemia, used to care for me when I was really young, but they passed away a long time ago, before the Dark Lord attacked. My parents at least pay enough attention to me to realize that since my grandparents' passing, I had gained a passion for dark literature and muggle history and a few hours ago, I received a few gifts from my parents, which were mainly books on the Ancient World and Middle Ages. However, my sister was the one to get the mountain of goods and all the praise today.

After years of watching the Wizarding World, I have realized the truth. They always jump to conclusions, never taking a second look at anything, and their prejudiced and corrupt ways are so pampering for the 'purebloods' of society that everyone else who tries to make their names in history or disagree with their society are shut out and abused in any way imaginable. Just thinking about how broken this hidden world is makes the very blood in my body churn with anger, a desire to burn them all to the ground.

That's when I feel it. A massive presence, a dark but welcoming one, washes over me. I stand up and look out at the hill in the middle of the forest, at the giant hill that rises up in the middle. That's where the presence is coming from. Slowly, I climb down the walls of my family manor and run out into the woods. Instantly, the sky above me darkens as I run under the thick cover of the trees. I keep on running, even after I feel the ground sloping up under me. Eventually, I come to the direct middle of the hill, where magic is gathering the strongest. A little suspicious, I lower my right hand and touch it to the ground. Suddenly, the ground collapses under me and I fall for a few seconds before landing on my back. Groaning, I slowly sit up, only to freeze in shock at what is in front of me. It's completely black and so huge it makes up the entire length of the hill. It has a tall fin-shaped structure jutting up, with what looks like a rectangle on top. If I had to guess, that would be a command center of sorts for the ship. Timidly, I step forward and look around. Judging by how much…older the dirt looks on the inside, I get the feeling it came here millennia ago. The very air around me seems to tingle with that same mysterious energy I felt.

After a few seconds of walking to the ship, I notice a device lying on the ground. I have never seen before, even during my time in the muggle world. It's in the shape of a pyramid and has markings on each side with gold decorations. Exercising great care, I gently crouch down and make to grab it. But as I touch the device, I feel my very magic and hatred of the Wizarding World pulsing into the device, which snaps open. I jump back, startled, after the projection of a man appears. He has to be around 2 meters tall, with some sort of tattoos on his bald head, a bodysuit of sorts with a cape billowing behind him and what has to be the most intimidating jaw I've ever seen.

"Are you going to get up, boy?" He asks with a deep and cold voice. Not wanting to get him angry, I immediately stand up and stare at him with fascination. A million questions float around my head, but I settle on asking the 2 most important ones.

"Who are you? Also, what is that?" I ask, pointing to the ship.

"I am the holocron, the memories of Darth Malak, Dark Lord of the Sith. As for my starship, this is the Leviathan. For my own question, who are you?" He answers, then asks.

When I hear that, I can't help but recoil a little in shock at this revelation. "My name is Harry Potter. But…you're an alien? What's a holocron, anyways?" I ask, shock and awe still in my voice.

I can't tell because of his jaw, but I think he's frowning at me. "I wouldn't put it that way, Harry, but yes, I'm from another planet. As for a holocron, it's a digital container for knowledge that greatly helps progress Sith Acolytes along the path of the Dark Side of the Force. I have felt your power and am impressed by your immense potential. So impressed, I want you to restart my Empire."

I listen to him with rapt attention, realizing that only more questions swell up in me. Musing on his words, I realize something. "So this Force is like magic."

Malak blinks in confusion at my statement. "What did you say, boy?"

"Well, from what you said, this Force is like magic, an energy that people can use. There's entire societies of them." I answer, spitting out the word societies.

Darth Malak raises an eyebrow at that. "Interesting. So the Jedi survived the battle as well." At my questioning look, he continues, "In addition to being the Sith lord, a group who uses the Dark Side of the Force, what you call magic, I was also the leader of a vast Empire. I led my most trusted human soldiers into battle against the Galactic Republic, who had users of the Light Side of the Force known as Jedi to assist them. I had my people rebuild my capitol ship, Leviathan, so the war could continue after I was killed by my former master, Revan. But my fleets engines were damaged, so we entered hyperspace to escape. We ended up in an uncharted system with the all-human Republic forces following. We ruptured their ships as well and all the people were evacuated, landing on the 3rd planet. The Leviathan was spared the damage and crashed here while the rest of the ships were destroyed." When his tale finished, I stare at him in shock, then laugh out loud. There are no gods, God, or any crap like that. Mankind came from outer space, landing on different parts of the world and colonizing it, and that the 'pureblood' wizards are actually descents of Jedi. This revelation would change the world in every way! But then I stop laughing when I realize something. "Wait a second. There were several civilizations, primitive ones mind you, that existed millennia before these events, so you weren't alone on this planet. "

Malak scoffs. "Yes, I was only activated a few times, but there were ancient humans that lived here, making this planet another home world for the human race. But my crew and the Republic's crew settled on the world and while the idea of space travel dimmed with each generation, they also laid the foundations for some much more sophisticated civilizations, like the nation the planet-native people called Greece. But enough history lessons. I sense much anger in you about something. Tell me, who do you hate?"

I look at him, magic (no, the Force) compelling me to tell the truth. "I hate all of Wizarding Britain's society! I hate the Ministry that runs everything, I hate the fake Dark Lord for pretty much making my family push me away, I hate my spoiled little sister, I hate them all!" I scream out the last part, hate overtaking me. A surge of power, one that feels comfortable to me, courses through me and I can think clearer than I ever did before.

"You have taken the first step. With my guidance, I will show you how to be a Sith and you will have you revenge against those who have wronged you." Malak says, who's probably smiling at this point, but I can't tell.

"I appreciate the offer, but I need to consider it before I continue." I said, still trying to digest everything I've learned.

Malak stares at me blankly for a few seconds then relents. "Of course."

I nod at him then turn around to leave. That's when I realize I have a problem. "Um…I can't leave."

"You consider that a problem? Use the Force, and make it do what you want. Let the Dark Side flow through you." Malak responds, then the holocron snaps back up and the projection disappears.

Taking his advice, I concentrate on my anger and will the rock on the cave walls to change into a way to get out of here. My power spikes and before my very eyes, the stones pull out of the wall and form a ladder. I can't help but be in awe at what I just did, but break out of my stupor and keep my focus up as I climb up the ladder and return to the surface. Once I am completely up, my focus is broken and the rock returns to its smooth state. Quickly, I run out of the woods and back to my family manor. As I walk in through the side door, I am confronted by all my friends.

"Hey mate." Fred Weasley starts, but his twin George finishes.

"Where have you been?"

"I just decided to go out for a run." I said, not wanting to tell them what I just learned yet.

"Is that why you're covered in dirt?" Daphne asks, looking at me with concern.

"Yes. I stumbled on a tree root while I was running. So, what's going on?"

"Oh, the parties' in full swing. Aside from Fleur, no one's wondered where you were." Neville said, a little bit of somberness in his voice.

It shouldn't have, but that news struck me hard. Not even my parents took notice of my absence? I look over their shoulders at the crowds of wizards who are in a full-scale party. Mom is talking with several other witches and wizards, including Appoline and Jean Delacour. While we went to France on a vacation, we met with the Delacours and after Dad saved them from a mugger, our 2 families became close friends. Speaking of Dad, I notice him talking with Mr. Weasley and my godfather, Remus Lupin, all of whom are laughing about something that must be really funny. In the middle of the crowd is my sister. She has pale skin, red hair with black accents and dark brown eyes. As she's talking with her friend Ronald Weasley, I can see her face holding a smug look as she talked.

In the corner, Fleur Delacour has enough sense to not look rude and also stays in the conversation, but I can tell that she wants to leave. They're all so happy about how good life is treating them, not even noticing that I left for a while. That's when I realize how foolish I was to even consider turning my back on everything I learned.

I walk through the crowds and head up the staircase to my bedroom. Grabbing a bag from under my bed I use whenever me and my family travel out of the country, I start throwing all of my clothes into it. When everything's packed up, I make my way to the open window and crawl through it. A second later, the door to my room opens and all my friends enter, staring at me.

"Where are you going?" Daphne asks, a concerned look on her face.

Quickly, I rack my brain and come up with a solid story. "Away. While I was out on my run, I found a relative of mine who's willing to teach me powerful magic and show me how to help others with it. Believe me; my talents are best served anywhere but here."

My friends look at each other and return their gazes to me. "OK. Well, goodbye, Harry." Neville said, looking a little sad.

"Goodbye. Please know that wherever I'll go, I will miss all of you. I promise to see you all again." I respond truthfully, getting the feeling that I will return, but not for a long time.

Before I could crawl out the window, Fred and George call out simultaneously, "Send us a postcard!"

I laugh a little and give them all a wide smile before crawling out the window. Daphne pulls the window back into place as I jump down the wall and take a running start through the forest, following the welcoming power guide me back to the hole I made. Using the Force, I recreate the ladder and slide down the ladder before I reach the smooth bottom. Once reaching the holocron, I reactivate it and see Darth Malak, surprise on his face.

"I'm sorry I ever considered turning down your offer. I want you to train me and how to be a Sith."

* * *

 _AN:_ Welcome to the first chapter of this story.

I confess, this is my least favorite chapter, but I guess we all have to do things we don't like sometimes.

I do promise, things get much better as time goes on.

See you next time, everyone!


	2. Chapter 2: Entering a Larger World

**July 31** **st**

 **1985**

 **12:20 pm Earth Time**

 **Outside the Interdictor-class cruiser 'Leviathan'**

 **Earth**

* * *

 **Harry Potter's POV:**

* * *

When I made my proclamation, the projection of Darth Malak flickers and it's hard to tell because of the prosthetic jaw, but I get the feeling he's smiling at me.

"Then do you swear your services to me? To finish what me and my master, Darth Revan, started long ago?" Malak asks.

I bow to the holocron. "Yes. I shall accept your teachings and resurrect the Sith, bringing the whole galaxy into a new age." The very room swirls with the Force, the very air buzzing with its power.

"You have done well, my apprentice. But…you need to change your name, so people won't recognize you in the future. It's what I did so no one knew about my past." Malak responds.

The logic makes sense to me, so I mull it over. "Well…I like the name Harry somewhat, but I prefer Harrison. When I read a history book, I learned that our family are descendants of the long-dead Peverell family, one that is said to have had dealings with death." I said.

"Then rise, Harrison Peverell." Malak orders. Slowly, I stand up and stare him in the eyes. "We don't have much time and I am just a holocron, so while I can teach you Sith etiquette and the Sith code, I can't train you properly. To find a real teacher, you will need to find a living Sith. Which is why you will take my ship and leave for one of the moons of Bogden system."

I nod, pick up the holocron, and walk to my ship. "So…how do I get in?"

"Use the Force and you will find the way in." Malak responds. I nod and raise my hands, sinking into my hatred of the Wizarding World.

I feel the Dark Side guiding me to the ship until I am touching the side of the ship. Suddenly, the door that my hand is on swings open. Waving my open hand to dissipate the musty air inside, I walk inside. Closing my eyes and sinking into the Force again, I walk down the hallways in silence for several minutes, trusting my instincts. "Stop and behold." Malak said. I do as he said and open my eyes. Before me is the command center for the ship, with numerous computers lining the walls and a glass shield that allows me to see out in front of me. I set the holocron down on the ground next to me as I look around the empty ship, imagining hundreds of people here thousands of years ago.

"Wait. This is a pretty big ship, so I'm going to need a crew. How am I going to take this ship off the ground if I don't have a crew?" I ask, the gravity of everything that's happened today finally sinking in.

Malak's imitation sighs. "Harrison, you don't need a crew. While it is difficult, use the Force and it will replace any amount of men at our disposal."

I nod, but then I realize something else. "You know, even if I do get this ship off the ground, everyone will notice this ship taking off."

Malak sighs again, nearly facepalming. I guess my lack of confidence is starting to get on his nerves, which also makes me a little annoyed. "When this ship was rebuilt after it was destroyed, I kept all the power that the original ship had, but I also included a cloaking device so no one will see us. Now, stop doubting and get to it, or do you want to continue being a worthless slave to the society you were born into?" That hit a nerve, and my newly-enhanced anger flows through my body. The systems on the ship activate and I can feel the engines below me activate. "Good. Don't stop." I let the Force guide my senses, activating the cloaking technology on the ship and I slowly raise my hands, power coursing through me at almost abnormal speeds.

The old ship moans under me as it slowly but surely raises into the air. Concentrating on my power even greater, I activate the engines on the ship. The whirring below me gets louder and the dirt that had protected this ship for over 3000 years' crumbles and falls off as the Leviathan rises into the air. Maintaining focus, I push my hands forward. The ship flies forward, while rising higher and higher into the air until it clears the atmosphere. I look back and see my homeworld sinking behind the sides of the shields. I get the strange feeling that I won't see the planet for many years. But one question's in my head: How in the world can this thing still fly? Maybe it crash-landed here and despite some possible damage on the ship's belly, it seems to be in perfect shape.

"Now, activate the hyperdrive on this ship and think of where you want to go. In this case, Bogden 3." I nod and regain my focus on the ship's internal systems, probing, until the Force points out what I'm looking for and activates it. I pull out of my concentration to see the very stars before us streak by as we travel at what is no doubt the speed of light. "What was the name of that world we just left?"

"Earth."

Malak scoffs a little. "What a simple name. When you do return to your homeworld and take it for yourself, I think renaming it should be the first thing you do."

I look down and muse on the holocrons words. "You're right, I will. Speaking of names, I'm going to change the name of my new ship. I'll call it the _Black Phoenix_. After a species that lives on my world with the ability to resurrect itself from the dead."

Malak actually raises an eyebrow at that, but nods. "Very well. But prepare to take control again, for we are at Bogden. I've made a jump in this prototype hyperdrive so I've practically memorized how long it took to get from an Inner Rim system to the Unknown Regions."

I nod and following the Dark Side's guidance, I pull on a lever on one of the computers. The _Black Phoenix_ pulls out of hyperspace, its cloaking technology still active somehow, and now faces a planet a little smaller than Earth, but full of forests. Using the Force to manipulate the controls, I fly the ship down to the planet, where my formal training to become a Sith will start.

* * *

 **August 15** **th**

 **2:43 pm Earth Time**

 **Bogden 3**

* * *

After spending over 2 weeks on this planet, I have learned the Sith ways, the meaning behind their code, not that constricting Jedi Code, and basic Force techniques like Force Push and Sith Lightning. The technique I am the best at is Force Cloak, where I can cloak either my body or my Force presence for extended periods of time. At first it was difficult, but I can hold it for as long as possible; I just need to hold a tiny amount of focus on it.

In addition to that, I have started drawing up blueprints for various starships and armors that my Empire will use when it finally comes together. I think that the mandalorians, especially Death Watch, would be a good start. To top it all off, I had a look around my ship and found numerous weapons and broken droids all around the ship, all of which I sold in the local black market. The enormous amount of credits I earned selling allowed me to purchase fuel for my ship and equip it with state-of-the art equipment. Although I am considering replacing the lazer shots with plasma shots to make the ship even deadlier.

But right now, I am sitting in the middle of a clearing, meditating. The Black Phoenix is nearby, its black surface gleaming in the sun. That's when I hear the ship approaching. Don't get me wrong, starships flying to and from this planet are a common sound, but this ship is getting closer than normal. I open my eyes to see a ship that almost looks like a sundial tip flying right at me. I am momentarily surprised when I reach out in the Force and sense the Force presence of the famous Jango Fett.

The ship touches down on the ground and the hatch opens up, releasing the mandalorian bounty hunter himself. "So, you must be the one all those rumors talk about." Jango accuses.

"…I have no idea what you're talking about." I said, curious about what he knows on the topic, since I know what rumors he's referring to.

"Don't lie, I know it's you because of your cruiser. There have been rumors of someone here that has been selling weapons that haven't been seen since the Jedi Civil War millennia ago. The black market is going crazy, scrambling over themselves to find out who's been selling. So I ask you, how did you find it?"

I stand up and give the mandalorian man a dark look. I can sense that he would have normally laughed at me because I am a 7-year old wearing a black shirt and jeans and thus don't look very impressive, but can tell that there's far more to me than he can see. "I found everything on my homeworld, a place that has no space travel. I even found Darth Malak's holocron, which is now showing me the ways of the Sith."

Jango just stands there, then takes his helmet off to look at me, see if I show any signs of lying. With my weeks of isolation, getting stared at like this makes me kind of uncomfortable. "That's a bold claim. Can you prove this?" He asks after another moment of silence.

"I'll show you." I said, then drop my Force illusion and show him my growing Sith features. My skin becomes several shades paler, but far from deathly white, making my black hair seem darker and volcanic orange eyes that shift the way lava would. When Darth Malak watched me gain my Sith form and saw my new eyes, he said that those eyes are rare in a Sith, that they have potential for immense abilities that many will envy. I lift my hand and my holocron flies into my hand. I touch the top and the holocron flares to life, showing Darth Malak.

"What's going on now?" Malak demands, then notices Jango. "Well, this is interesting. It's been a long time since I've seen a mandalorian."

Jango is speechless for several seconds, then looks at me as if seeing me for the first time. "Well, I can honestly say that I didn't expect to meet a real Sith today."

I nod, then get an idea. It's a crazy one, but I can sense that Jango is trustworthy. "How about we talk inside your ship? We don't want anyone overhearing what I want to say." I suggest, turning off the holocron.

Jango nods and we both walk onto his ship, the hatch closing behind us. "Alright, let's hear what you want to say." He said, sitting in his pilot seat and staring at me again.

"OK. I have heard many things about you, especially about your distaste of the Jedi Order and the corrupt Galactic Republic. Which is why I offer you a choice. I am rebuilding the Sith Empire. You will have freedom from a corrupt government and you will have more contract kills and all the revenge you want against all those who stood against you. Who knows, I might even help you learn what your sister's true fate is. All I ask is that you join my cause and tell Death Watch that the Sith are returning to the galaxy and I want them at my side."

Jango listens to my words with rapt attention, looking more and more surprised as I tell him my offer. He considers his options for several long moments before he speaks again. "Very well, then. If you can hold your promises, I will help you attain your goals."

I flash him a grin. "Excellent. Now, let's…" I am interrupted when I feel another presence in the Force nearby, much stronger than an average being, but since I was so focused on persuading Jango to my side, I didn't notice the presence before. "Hold on." I said, then use the Dark Side to pull the person to us. A female who bears the look of a Tholothian wearing dark robes, a utility belt and a long brown cloak appears, trying to break my grip. Judging by the light side of the Force radiating from her, she's a Jedi. "So, you managed to eavesdrop on our conversation. Now you will tell me who you are and why you're here on this planet."

She strains under my grip, but she manages to respond. "My name is Adi Gallia, Knight of the Jedi Order. I had found your ship and one that belongs to a bounty hunter and overheard your plans. The Jedi will always triumph over the Sith. I shall bring you to the Jedi Temple and save you from the dark path."

"Jango, do you mind if I borrow a small blaster?" I ask the bounty hunter. He nods and throws me a blaster pistol. "This is what I have to say to you, Jedi. Your Order will fall and the Sith shall rise." With that, I pull the trigger and the shot goes off. Gallia doesn't stand a chance as the bullet strikes her chest and her body goes limp. I break my concentration and press 2 fingers against her throat once I reach her body.

After feeling nothing, I just realized what I did. I have just killed my first being and she was a Jedi! Instead of laughing like a maniac would, I grab her weapon, what Malak told me is a lightsaber, and stand up, facing my new ally. I can now sense that he has some respect for me, having the guts to do this. "Jango, please dispose of the body. I'm leaving to find a Sith lord and learn more about the Dark Side. I want you to take my ship, the _Black Phoenix_ , and hide it. I'll leave Darth Malak's holocron in your care as well. Find the leader of Death Watch and tell him that I will be contacting him in the distant future and shall ensure Death Watch's goals are attained." I said, then toss him my triangular holocron.

"Of course. But I don't know of any Sith that live. I mean, there was one that appeared on the Invasion of Naboo not too long ago, but that's about it." Jango responds.

I nod in gratitude at the information and reach out in the Force, trying to sense another presence in the Dark Side. After numerous seconds of exhausting Force usage, I give up, not sensing anyone. The dark thoughts and growing hatred in the galaxy makes it even harder to find anything. "I can't sense anything. You know, I'm starting to think being trained by a Sith lord would not be the best idea." I am honest with that statement, since even if I am trained by a Sith Lord, our conflicting views about what to will hurt my plans in the long run.

As I muse on these thoughts, my eyes fall to the Jedi's corpse and what has to be the either the smartest or dumbest idea I've ever had ever comes to mind. "Jango, I'm taking a refugee ship to the famous Jedi Temple on Coruscant. I will learn the art of lightsaber combat and how to use the Force. If anything suspicious occurs, contact me immediately."

"Very well. Until we meet again, lord…" Jango said, realizing he doesn't know my name.

I blush a little, also realizing I didn't tell it to him. "Harrison Peverell." I said, then get up, grabbing the Jedi's lightsaber. "Until we meet again, Jango Fett." As I leave his ship, I ask one last thing. "Can you do me a favor and kill a group of bandits here? I want to create a story that involves this particular Jedi being killed by bandits, but she discovers my potential and tells to go to the Jedi Temple." Once outside, I make my way through the forest terrain, felling nostalgic.

After several minutes of silent walking, I arrive at the spaceport, where an announcement goes off. _"Attention. You have 5 minutes before the transport ship on Bay 7 leaves for Coruscant."_ That's what I need to hear. Making my way through the crowds of all beings, I arrive at the transport ship. Getting out several leftover Republic credits, I pay for passage on the ship and after getting seated on the ship along with the rest of the passengers, the ship takes off and enters hyperspace.

While it is an amazing piece of technology, I think it needs adjusting or replacing. While a ship in hyperspace can travel at the speed of light, it is still heavily affected by gravity, which is how some ships with gravity wells can pull others out of hyperspace and trap the victims. As I muse on what I would replace hyperspace with, I then notice we pulled out of hyperspace. Curious, I look out the window and see Coruscant, the capitol of the Galactic Republic.

I can't help but be mesmerized by the reality of the planet being one giant city, but then I sense something else. The Light Side radiating from a point on the planet. In a second, I realize I found the Jedi Temple.

When the ship finally docks at the bay and everyone gets off, I make my way through the busy streets of Coruscant, taking in every site it has to offer. It also helps to know the lay of the land so I can have undisturbed meetings with any allies I make. But I was too distracted and walk into another man. I recoil a little and look up at who I hit, only to meet a man wearing Jedi robes and that the man has white hair that stretches down to a beard. Immediately, I pull up my Force Cloak to hide my true nature. "I am sorry. I've been distracted lately." He said, then notices the lightsaber at my side. "What's your name, Padawan? I don't recognize you."

"No, I'm not a Padawan. My name is Harrison Peverell and I come from Bogden 3. That Tholothian told me to go to the Jedi Temple here." I said, playing the look of a scared boy.

That caught the man's attention completely. "Who are you referring to?"

"Her name was Adi Gallia and she died, fighting off a bandit attack. I took her lightsaber so you would believe that this happened." The man straightens up and gives me a look of interest.

"My name is Dooku. Don't worry, Harrison, I will bring you before the Jedi High Council. They will determine your fate." Dooku said. What interests me, though, is that I caught a hint of distain in his voice. Together, we walk through the streets of Coruscant and make our way to the Jedi Temple.

The Light Side radiates from it like crazy, but I am still in awe of the architecture and detail that went into the temple's construction. As we walk inside, my head swivels back and forth, taking in the beauty of the temple not even Corusant's buildings can match. Stone columns stand tall and proud, statues of famous Jedi Masters standing in the central hall. The entire temple is buzzing with activity, full of Jedi of all species and genders. But Dooku hustles me onward to one of the main lifts and once we're onboard, start riding up. Minutes before, Dooku contacted the Jedi Council and scheduled a meeting for my sake.

I straighten myself up and steel my Force cloak so it can't be breached. Several moments pass in silence before the elevator stops and the doors open up, revealing an entire council of the Jedi, reminding me vaguely of the Olympian council worshiped long ago. Behind all of them, the sun is setting, tinting the sky over Coruscant gold. The Force radiating from all of them is extreme, the majority radiating from a bald man with dark skin and an old-looking, green-skinned creature that looks like a house elf.

"Found a new Force-sensitive, do you?" The green-skinned creature asks.

"Not exactly, Master Yoda. I think he should speak for himself." Dooku said then steps aside. I shift a little.

"My name is Harrison Peverell" I said, then for a long time, I tell my story about being a street orphan on a moon of Bogden who found some long-hidden relics from the days of the Jedi Civil War, which I sold to make enough money to survive, then Ali Gallia found me and sacrificed herself to save me from a bandit attack. The Jedi Council looks a little sad at the loss of one of their own, then ask me several questions about my past, to see if I have any past connections.

Apparently, I just arrived on the edge of being considered old and my connections were severed weeks ago, so I'm optimistic. After answering the questions, the Council members start debating with each other on what should be done. After many minutes of debate, the Council goes silent. "Agree, we all do. Welcome to the Jedi Order, Harrison Peverell." Yoda said, smiling at me. All of the other members of the Council also smile at me being a new member of the Jedi. My manners must have won them over.

"Thank you, Master Yoda." I said, bowing in respect.

"Knight Dooku, become Master of our new Padawan, you will." Yoda adds, addressing the silent Jedi in the corner.

"Of course, Master Yoda." He said, looking a little happy at the news. We both walk out of the Jedi Council chamber and take the lift back down to the main hall. "Follow me. I shall show you to your quarters."

As we walk down the halls, my eyes still drift across the vast halls, taking in the scenery once again. "Good to see someone else who's new around here." A female voice said. I shift my head towards the speaker and notice a human girl who's around my age leaning against the wall. She is a pretty girl, with short blonde hair and light purple eyes. "I'm Leia. Leia Haggar." She said, lifting her hand.

I realize what she wants to do, so I lift up my hand and shake hers. "Harrison Peverell."

"Come on, Harrison. You'll have time to socialize later." Dooku said, standing patiently. I nod at my new master and wave goodbye to her. She also waves back, smiling. After a long, silent walk, we arrive at the dorms. A bunch of other padawans are setting settled in their bunks, wishing each other goodnight. "Alright. This is where you will spend your free time hanging out with the other padawans. Tomorrow, your formal Jedi training begins." Without another word, my new master leaves. Exhausted from everything that's happened today, I walk over to an empty bed, my bed and flop onto it.

I get settled in my bed and stare up at the ceiling. 'Well, no turning back now.' With those last thoughts, I close my eyes and fall asleep, only to have fiery dreams of an army of ships never seen in the galaxy before destroying Republic warships.

* * *

 _AN:_ Well, this was a long chapter.

Harrison has been recruited into the Jedi and met Leia. Next time will detail Harrison's entire time at the Jedi Order.

See you then!


	3. Chapter 3: The Turning Point

**June 30** **th**

 **1993**

 **1:00 pm Earth time**

 **Jedi Temple**

 **Corusant**

* * *

 **Harrison Peverell's POV:**

* * *

If someone decided to tell an ordinary Sith to the face that I would manage to thrive in the headquarters of the Jedi Order for 8 whole years, said Sith would normally have laughed and considered that person completely insane. But here I am.

My time in the Jedi Order has been so beneficial to me physically and mentally. Under Dooku's firm hand, I have grown from an under confident, doubtful boy into a 5' 9", quick-witted and confident man. At least, as much of a man as a 15-year-old Jedi padawan can ever be. In addition, I have become adept in the lightsaber combat styles of Makashi, Soresu and Juyo and on a datapad, made detailed notes on the rest of the forms and how they work.

However, under my layers of mind protections and illusions, I am a Sith through and through. I have taken the Sith techniques I already learned and honed them to whole new levels, as well as learning several Jedi techniques and figuring out how to apply the Sith arts to make them more effective. Admittedly, I do admire how selfless the Jedi Order is, but there is such a thing as being too selfless. If you help others, you need to be able to gain something from it.

Aside from that, things have been going well, inside and outside the Jedi. Over the years, I had held secret meetings in the slums of Corusant with Jango Fett. The mandalorians are now at civil war, one side being the pacifists who rule Mandalore and the other being Death Watch, who had recruited several more mandalorian planets and clans to their cause, including most of Jango's homeworld of Concord Dawn, with the exception of the Protectors who also live there.

Today is a day where I can relax from all the learning of the Jedi codes and lightsaber training and am allowed to leave the Temple and take in the scenery of Corusant. I do just that, wandering down the busy streets before drifting towards one of the side alleys unnoticed. As I walk deeper and deeper into the alley, the more the sounds of Corusant street life dim. I sense a 2nd presence in the alley, waiting for me. "You're right on time." I said as Jango Fett walks out of the shadows.

"When am I never on time?" Jango asks dryly. I laugh a little at that response.

"Too true. So, what's going on with Death Watch lately?"

Even if I can't see his face, I can tell Jango is smiling a little. "I have good news there. Even if Death Watch has grown since you met the mandalorian ambassador, they still don't believe you to be a Sith. However, they have also given you a chance to prove yourself a Sith and worthy of leading Death Watch. Today, they will launch an attack on Mandalore and Kryze's pacifist government. If you can defeat their leader, Pre Vizsla, in combat, Death Watch's leadership will be relinquished to you."

I grin widely at that report, already suspecting that my meeting a month ago with Vizsla's ally, Bo-Katan, didn't win them over. "I wouldn't have it any other way from a mandalorian like him. Knowing the Jedi, they can't overlook an invasion like this, so tell him I'm on my way." With that, I turn around and walk out of the alley. No longer interested in the break, I make my way back to the Jedi Temple that has been my 'home' for 8 years.

But when I return to the temple, I find my Master standing out front, waiting for me. "You have good timing, Peverell. The Council is sending us out on a mission to Mandalore to assist the government in defending the planet from a splinter group who are reportedly about to invade. Get your gear together; we will be leaving as soon as you are ready." He turns around and walks inside. Yup, he's definitely the same guy as the day he picked me up. I also walk inside and make my way through the vast halls of the Jedi Temple to retrieve my lightsaber for the mission. Once I grab the long, rectangular-shaped weapon that shows my preference of offensive strategies but has some defensive options, my 1st datapad and a 2nd datapad I keep under my bed, I make my way towards the docking bay.

As I walk down the familiar hallways, I find both of my best friends, Leia Haggar and Anakin Skywalker, waiting for me. Anakin, a padawan who arrived here a few years ago. He is also a nice kid, but is too overconfident and has an ego, no matter how badly I tried beating it out of him in the past. Sometimes it reaches the point where I so badly want to kill him, but I exercised patience, thinking with his power, he'll make one hell of a Sith. Including Leia. For my master, I can already sense he has been tipping to the Dark Side after Jedi Knight Qui-Gon Gin was killed, fighting a Sith warrior by the name of Darth Maul. The only reason he's staying here in the Jedi Order at all is because of me.

I'll be honest; I was a little touched when I learned that. "Hi." Leia calls out and she walks to me. "So, I heard that you're going on a mission to the Council."

"Oh, yeah. Nothing much; Just protecting the Mandalorian government from Death Watch." I answer, stopping so I can talk.

"Well, good luck on that. I wish I could come, but my master wants me to stay here and study some more." Anakin said, obviously longing to be in the air again.

"See you later, then. If you want, Skyguy, I can take you out flying later." I said teasingly, then continue my walk to the docking bay, passing by more Jedi. They whisper behind their hands and stare at me in awe. It's obvious that they are still impressed with my duel with Jedi Master Ki-Adi-Mundi and that I actually bested him. When I finish walking to the hangar, I find Dooku standing next to our Starfighters, waiting on me.

"You're late. Let's get moving." Dooku said, getting into his personal fighter. I sigh a little at his bluntness, but get into my fighter and we both fly out of the temple. We keep flying until we leave Corusant's atmosphere, then enter hyperspace.

After many hours of a boring flight, we arrive at the coordinates. Gripping my steering wheel to the point where my fingers are white with one hand, I use the other to pull my fighter out of hyperspace. The bright blue landscape around me reverts back to normal space and the planet of Mandalore is in front of us, Concordia on our right. There appears to be no fight yet, but that will change soon. "I hope you are ready for your first battle." Dooku says over our ship's comm lines.

"I was born ready." I answer honestly, then we fly our ships down to the planet. As we enter the atmosphere, we notice the battle taking place down on the planet. Death Watch is starting an assault on ground and firing lazers upon the domed city of Sundari, and several dozen Death Watch soldiers are storming towards the main city. Upon the Dark Side's prompting, I look to my left and notice a large gathering of ships in a ring, each ship facing Sundari and under a makeshift domed energy shield about 1,000 feet away from the city.

In an instant, I realize what is going on, but I need to get my master away from the ships. Getting an idea, I activate the comms. "Master, go to the city of Sundari. I'm going to try and infiltrate the base." I said, hoping he'll go for it.

A moment of silence passes, before… "Indeed. It may be a cocky move, but a good one for ending this fight quickly with few casualties. May the Force be with you, my padawan." After that statement, Dooku flies toward the city while I fly towards the make-shift base and set down nearby.

I prepare a device I keep stashed in my fighter that allows me to take in oxygen when I'm in areas of low oxygen, such as being underwater or here. I activate the device, put it in my mouth, and pull open the cockpit. But as I look out at the desert wasteland, I notice a dozen Death Watch soldiers surrounding me, their blasters pointed at me. "Prepare to die, Jedi." A male mandalorian standing in front of me said. For the first time in a long time, I drop my Force illusion and send black Sith lightning to the man. Thanks to my training, I learned how to charge my emotions into my lightning to not only change its brutality, but also its color. He obviously had no idea who I am, so he writhed on the ground in agony. After a few seconds, I cease using the Sith technique, and get out of my fighter, but jump out of the scarlet fighter.

"While I am a Jedi on the outside, I will never truly be one of them. My name is Harrison Peverell." I said, my voice holding a dangerous tone to it.

The poor man I tortured for a few seconds stands back up and I can sense he is in shock at my appearance. "I'm sorry about my previous attitude, Mr. Peverell. When we were told to look for you, I was expecting someone else. The bounty hunter, Jango, spoke very highly of you to us."

I nod at the explanation because honestly, I can't blame them for expecting an adult, not a kid. "Alrighty then. I assume that Pre Vizsla wants to see me?" I ask the man.

"Yes sir. Please follow me. We don't have much time before we have to pull back to Concordia." He then runs back to his base with me and the rest of the squad in tow. Soon, we pass through the shield barrier, allowing me to take off my breathing equipment and walk into the clearing where a mandalorian without his armor on is standing, watching the battle between the Death Watch troops and a Sundari defensive group led by Dooku.

"Pre Vizsla, you have a guest." The mandalorian said, then he along with the others stood off to the sides as he gets his first look at me.

The leader of Death Watch is tall, with sharp, light blue eyes, light skin and even if his hair is shaved really short, I can tell he has blond hair. "So, you're the one who Jango told us about? You're not who I pictured you to be." He said calmly.

"You have shorter hair than I pictured you having." I answer crossing my arms and staring at him calmly. Even if he's a hardened mandalorian warrior, I can sense that he's a little unnerved by my Sith appearance, since he's never met a Sith warrior before. Some of the other soldiers are slightly surprised at my calm response. "I assume you know why I'm here?"

Vizsla nods his head once. "I do. If you can beat me in single combat, I shall relinquish control of Death Watch to you. Prepare for battle." He said, then pulls a hilt off his belt and activates it. A single-edged black blade emerges, with a white outline. Not wasting a second, he lunges at me.

Sensing that attack coming, I activate my own lightsaber, which shoots out a dark blue blade and block Vizsla's attack. Hey, I prefer dark blue color over scarlet, but I still like the latter color. Swinging widely, I force the mandalorian back then charge at him. He charges at me and our blades connect again. After breaking our stalemate, we keep on slashing at each other mercilessly. The mandalorians around us are in awe of both our dueling techniques. But soon, I gain the advantage and leap over Vizsla and land behind him on my feet. By the time Vizsla turns around, he has already lost the duel. I use the Force to enhance my reflexes and slash at his face, under his right eye. The hit connects and he winces in pain, cradling his face as blood starts seeping through his fingers. He doesn't get a chance to recover as I send another dose of Sith lightning at him and he drops his now-deactivated darksaber and writhes on the ground. Just as a final precaution to prove I'm a Sith.

After a few seconds, I let up on my lightning and watch the mandalorian writhe on the ground for a few seconds before I take some pity and use the Force to seal up the wound on his face, leaving a nasty scar. Slowly, he rolls onto his stomach and gets onto his knees. He looks up at me with a look I didn't expect to see on his face: Respect. He then gets into a bowing position. "My lord, Death Watch is at your command." He said, his voice raspy from the lightning dose. "If you want to kill me, make it a warrior's death."

I look down at the warrior and I also gain a sense of respect for his warrior-like attitude, but I make my choice. "No, I don't wish to kill you. I am rebuilding the Sith Empire and I need a man with military experience like you leading my armies."

Vizsla very slowly stands up and looks at me, an understanding look on his face. "Well, then, my lord. What is your command?"

I had spent my entire travel time here to Mandalore putting together what my orders will be. "I want you to take every soldier and resource Death Watch has and leave Concordia. It's no longer safe to be around here, but I do know of a star system in the heart of the Unknown Regions where you will be safe from the upcoming war." I made sure to mention that because ever since the Naboo invasion by the Trade Federation years ago, the Galactic Senate has started to become unstable. Pre Vizsla, of course, suspects another galactic-scale war is come soon. "When you get to the system, make sure you have cloaking up on all of your ships as the 3rd planet is roaming with satellites, albeit primitive ones. Go to the system's 4th planet, an uninhabited red planet called Mars, and start building an underground city along with shipyards for your fleet. While traveling there, gather as many metals and resources as possible and kyber crystals of yellow, purple and black color from Ilum, also in the Unknown Regions. Oh! that reminds me." I get out my datapad and hand it to Vizsla. Every single piece of armor, every warship and weapon idea is detailed in there, so it's very important.

"This particular datapad holds the details for my instructions and the coordinates to the system I just told you about. Also, and I almost hate to tell you this, but your entire fleet and your weapons will need to be changed and the army will be required to use a whole new set of armor I have on the datapad if you are to take not just Mandalore, but destroy the very Republic the government you fight is sworn to. Finally, I want a squad of soldiers stationed at Corusant, manning my ship Jango has kept safe on Concord Dawn, the _Black Phoenix_. Keep the ship and its crew on standby in case anything happens to me. After that, wait for further instructions."

Vizsla nods at me, understanding my long list of orders completely. "Now, I would advise leaving now and returning to Concordia. People will start getting suspicious if you stay."

"Yes, my lord. Before you go, here." Vizsla said, handing me a comm line. "So you can contact the men I will station on Corusant. Victory or death."

"Victory or death!" the men around us chant back, then all of Death Watch get onboard their transport ships, sending out comms to call back all troops. To make my fib look believable, I walk away from the soldiers that are falling back and return to my own fighter, breathing heavily into the oxygen device I just put back into my mouth as I pull my Force illusion back up and watch my new army boarding the ships and fleeing Mandalore. Sundari's defense forces, my master and a tall woman with blond hair, blue eyes and dressed like royalty start running to me.

"Harrison, are you OK? We saw the Death Watch troops retreating. What happened?" Dooku asks sharply.

"I…You're right, master. I was too cocky, thinking I could take on an entire squad of Death Watch soldiers. But I managed to wound their admiral; don't ask, he was wearing armor so I had no idea who he was and knowing that you were on your way, decided to pull back." I answer, still breathing hard for special effect.

"That's an odd move on their part, but still. I must thank you for saving my people from Death Watch. I assure you, me and Pre Vizsla will find out who leads those barbarians and make sure they leave us to our new way of life." Duchess Satine Kryze said, smiling at me.

Even if I'm smiling on the outside, I can't help but agree with Pre Vizsla about her bringing disrespect upon her people's ancestors.

"Thank you, Dutchess. We shall take our leave now." Dooku said and Kryze nods in understanding.

"Very well, but before you leave, we will refuel your fighters before you begin the long journey back to Corusant. It's the least we can do." She said, smiling.

I almost choke on my spit when I hear that, finally understanding Pre Vizsla's anger about how far the mandalorians have fallen if a warrior race is actually giving away their own ship fuel to others. She is most definitely a slap to the face of all warrior mandalorians. "That's very generous of you, Dutchess." Dooku said as I get into my own fighter and fly above our group towards Sundari, imagining the city burning.

* * *

 **June 31st**

 **9:45 am Earth time**

 **Sundari Docking Bay 10**

 **Mandalore**

* * *

Finally, after a long afternoon and much-appreciated rest, our ships are refueled and Death Watch hasn't returned to attack again, on my orders of course.

Soon, me and Dooku get onboard our ships and fly out of the capitol city and soar up into space before entering hyperspace and begin our journey to Corusant. After a long flight, the giant metal city I have stayed at for numerous years comes into view again. But something isn't right. I can sense vast changes in the Force inside the Temple. Disbelief, shock and bitterness radiate from inside the temple, directed at me.

I wasn't born yesterday. I now know that someone figured out who I really am and spilled the news to the rest of the Jedi in the Temple.

Well, there will have to be another change in plans then. I pull out the comm link Vizsla gave me and activate it.

"This is Ginn Karath, 2nd-in-command of the _Black Phoenix_ , what can I do for you, Emperor?" The mandalorian, Ginn, said.

"Commander Ginn. One of us slipped up in knowing of our alliance and the Jedi Temple has become aware of it, so I'm altering the plan. Prepare my ship for bombing the Senate Building and a Corusant sector then go to the Jedi Temple's docking bay. I'm sending you the design of the Temple right now. Anyway, pick me up and we will leave this planet and head to Mars. Alert Pre Vizsla to the change and tell him to speed up Death Watch's relocating from Concordia. Time is no longer on our side."

"Very well, my Lord. It shall be done. But please buy us some time; it will take a while to reach the destination." With that, the comm line is cut. Knowing that's been taken care of, I calmly fly my fighter down to the docking bay, Dooku on my right.

What somewhat surprises me, though, is that dozens of Jedi are standing on the edge of the docking bay, waiting for us. When our ships touch down and the cockpits open, Dooku jumps out and walks to the crowd. "What's the meaning of this?" He demands calmly but sharply as I also get out of my fighter.

"Your padawan is the problem, Master Dooku. Last month, he was caught associating with several mandalorians who had just recently been confirmed to be members of Death Watch." Jedi Master Mace Windu said, then continues, "But there's more. An eyewitness had come forward recently, and confessed to us that he saw Harrison's violent methods and even murdered a thief who was trying to escape."

…Oh, come on. The guy was a dirty thief, so I prevented him from robbing anyone again. It seems the one time I tried being me is biting me in the ass. Windu then turns to me. "Harrison Peverell, because of this association with known terrorists, breaking the Jedi code and even taking the life of an innocent, you are expelled from the Jedi Order. Please turn in your lightsaber and never come back to our Order."

So the cat is out of the bag now. I briefly notice Dooku is staring at me in absolute shock, along with my 2 friends and Yoda looking at me with a look of betrayal on their faces. But then my gaze settles on another human girl in the crowd, about my age with short blond hair, grey eyes and the only one here who absolutely hates me and has tried to prove herself better than me numerous times.

I inwardly cackle as I get an awesome idea. "Very well. But I will only give up my blade to you, Callista." She looks very suspicious about why I would pick her, but shrugs and walks forward. She then reaches out with her hands to grab my lightsaber pointing at her chest and gets a firm grip on the lightsaber's handle.

"Any last words you want to make to the Order before you leave, traitor?" She asks, still wary. I sneer as my plan starts.

"Actually, I do." Then I activate my lightsaber, shooting out the dark blue beam which instantly passes through Callista's chest and goes out her back. "Go to Hell for your arrogance." With that, I retract the blade then slice her head off, sending it flying to the ground and leaving a nice blood patch at the point where it lands and her corpse crumples to the ground as well. Several people back up, gasping at my actions. I stare at each and every one of them, then my sneer only grows wider. "Do you really think that you will survive the storm that is coming? I have seen the facts and I know for certainty, war is on the horizon. A war that will tear your weakening Republic apart and end the Jedi Order permanently. That is, if I don't end you first. I will breathe new life into the old Sith Order and we shall know the answer to this question. After the dust settles, which side will be left standing?"

Before anyone can respond, numerous explosions go off and we all turn around to watch the _Black Phoenix_ firing its state-of-the-art cannons into the Senate Building as it flies at the Jedi Temple, also raining lazer fire into the streets below. The sensation of horror and despair cuts into the Force like a knife, making most of the Jedi recoil in shock and pain. All except for Windu, who charges at me. But I already sensed him coming and raise my blade to deflect his lightsaber. Afterwards, we engage in a duel that pits our might against each other. Neither of us can gain an advantage in our duel before I leap over him and slash behind me, Windu blocking the blade. Taking advantage of the stalemate, I crack the pillar next to us using the Force and send its pieces flying at the Jedi crowd.

Sadly, Yoda lifts his hand and blocks the pillar shards. Unfortunately, the Jedi Grandmaster is out of practice to block all of the pieces and the 2 that make it past his field successfully crush 3 Knights and padawans who are still in shock at my actions. Manipulating the distraction, I use the Dark Side again and crack another pillar and, sending it towards Windu this time. The Jedi in question just barely slashes through the pieces, saving his life and not killing any other Jedi. Behind me, a Death Watch Kom'rk-class transport ship flies at the docking bay and turns around, it's hatch opening up. All of the Death Watch soldiers onboard fire at the Jedi as I back up onto the transport. While most Jedi block the lazer shots, a few are unlucky and get shot in the shoulder or receive a shot to the chest and die instantly, making the Jedi death count today 7. Luckily, the 1 sleeper agent I delicately rigged in the Order wasn't among those who were injured. "Hey, look on the bright side. None of you did this to me. Had you found me before I found those Old Republic relics, I would have been a genuine Jedi. Hasta la vista!" I said as the hatch closes up and the ship flies back to the _Black Phoenix_ as it flies into space.

Everyone gets off the transport and returns to their former posts as I walk through the ship, past the mandalorians who salute me as I pass by and make my way to the bridge. Activity there is buzzing, with mandalorian technicians at all posts, monitoring the devices and a single man staring out at everything. He then turns around and I get my first good look at the man. He has short grey hair, sharp dark eyes and a fair complexion.

"Are you Ginn Karath? As in a relative of Saul Karath, who fought for the Old Sith Empire?" I ask, guessing on the answer.

"Yes I am. My ancestors had indeed served the Sith Empire before marrying into the mandalorian race thousands of years ago." He said, standing at attention.

I laugh a little at that response, finding this extremely ironic. "That's what I thought. Captain, pull us into hyperspace. We are going to the Unknown Regions."

"Right away, Emperor. Activate the hyperdrives!" Within seconds, the ship enters hyperspace. I stand at the bridge, the memories of the last hour passing through my mind.

The first move had been made against the Republic. Despite how I am now confirmed to be a Sith, I am far from discouraged to continue on my path. Why should I be? I had recruited an army of true warriors and we will establish a safe base of operations to lay low and mold our resources into an army that will one day spread like a plague across the galaxy, leaving nothing but fear for those who would stand against me.

From this point on, the only way to proceed is through.

* * *

 _AN:_ Well, Harrison's done with the Jedi Order now.

If what Harrison did to Callista wasn't a clue, this story will be a little more violent and darker than some of my other stories. As for the sleeper agent, can anyone guess who it is?

Anyway, I will see you all next time, after a major timeskip. There will be some elements I am reluctant to put in (you will know what they are), but I have twists on them to make them more tolerable.

Thank you all for the support you have given me and I hope you like everything I have planned in the future.


	4. Chapter 4: Returns and Gathering Storms

**July 31** **st**

 **1994**

 **10:30 am Earth time**

 **Peverell Manor**

 **Athens, Greece**

 **Earth**

* * *

 **Harrison Peverell's POV:**

* * *

Much had happened since my escape from the Galactic Republic.

Even after my disappearance from the public eye, I had cut off that horrid braid of hair and retained a connection to the Holonet so I could keep up with what's going on in the galaxy as a whole. The Republic had finally started to crack, many star systems breaking away, my attack on Corusant being the last straw. Even my old master left the Jedi Order permanently, probably to become an Acolyte in the Dark Side when he saw who I really was and what I was capable of. Speaking of the Jedi, I can't say exactly what they're up to, but they are definitely still reeling from my attack.

While all that was going on, the _Black Phoenix_ had taken obscure hyperspace lanes through mandalorian territory to reach the Unknown Regions. That must have driven Chancellor Palpatine up the wall. I was, of course, leading the entire army of Death Watch, who had stolen some freighters to transport the vast amount of resources. After many days of traveling through the Unknown Regions, we arrive at my home system. Once the cloaking systems are activated, all of the ships set down on Mars. Since I got the feeling that years will be spent here, I got a Kom'rk ship to take me to Earth so I could establish a home there.

I melted the credits into gold and secretly bought the supposedly haunted Lockhill Manor in Athens, using the Force to create a barrier so no one would enter uninvited and renaming it 'Peverell Manor'. Ancient history, particularly that of the Greeks, had always held a place in my heart, even as a child. While it kept its ancient exterior, I completely remodeled the inside, chapel and sanatorium, equipping all of them with state-of-the-art technology from the galaxy.

For over a year, I lived alone in my manor, directing my forces in building an underground city on Mars. That had taken most of the year, but around 2 months ago, the city was finally completed, leading to the next phase in my plans. Death Watch has recently started experimenting with building the ships based off the data I gave them and have infiltrated Earth to learn more about the neighboring planet.

Conquering Earth is an additional phase of my plans. While I may not have the best memories on my homeworld, I can't blame a whole planet for one broken society's stupid mistakes. To say it's immature would be putting it lightly. As for the mandalorians, even Pre Vizsla, they are quickly gaining respect for the world. So many creative ways to murder they never even considered were invented, so many wars of tremendous magnitude, such as the Greco-Persian Wars and a few of them involving one of Earth's many unique species: the Goblins, that the mandalorians are both awestruck by their effectiveness and eager to have all of them at their side as they exact their vengeance against the galaxy. But the Wizarding World, due to its stagnancy and as a way to get back at their society, it must be burned to the ground and the survivors will become members of the Sith order. It doesn't help that several of the humans who landed here thousands of years ago were also mandalorians.

Anyway, they have started experimenting with my new ships and a new high-speed drive of varying power since they agreed hyperspace might not be good enough. Today, I will be traveling to New Concordia, the city that was established on Mars, to oversee the final experiments of our new weaponry and technology.

When I got out of bed in the morning, I treated myself to a delicious breakfast of French toast, a large glass of chocolate milk and bacon. Today's my 17th birthday after all, so I had to treat myself to something. Once I ate breakfast and got on my black robes which have dark blue accents, walked out of my manor, stretching as I take in the view of the city, then made my way towards the chapel, bringing me to this moment. While I am not a religious person, I still kept the old building around because it makes a nice hangar for my private ship to come and go from.

Using the Force, I open the double doors and walk inside. There are many instruments, fuel tanks and linked to a single blue and scarlet Kom'rk ship, modified since it's my personal transport, sitting there and waiting for my use. Walking towards the ship, I get into the cockpit and fire up my fighter. Activating my ship, I roll it out of the chapel, turn on the ship's cloaking feature and fly it out, using the Force to close the chapel's doors. Another thing that made me famous in the Jedi was my flight skills that could rival, if not best Anakin Skywalker's own pilot skills.

After several minutes, the ship leaves Earth, soaring past all of their satellites and stations towards the red planet. While Mars looks the same as ever, I can sense an entire city miles under the surface. Quickly, I push the comm button on my ship. "New Concordia, this is _Pathos_. Prepare a docking bay for my arrival." I said calmly.

Someone jumps on the other end, judging by the faint crashing sound. "Right away, Emperor. Ginn Karath will be there to properly greet you." The man on the other end said before closing the line.

'Oh, it feels good to intimidate people sometimes.' I think, smiling a little as a hidden hatch spirals open, red sand falling into the black hole. Carefully, I lower my ship into the pit, deeper and deeper until I come into a large grey docking bay where the rest of the Kom'rk ships are being disassembled. Their parts will be much needed for the new ships they will be making. In the center of the docking bay to the right of where I'm landing, the _Black Phoenix_ is being cleaned and kept in prime condition for the war to come.

Once my ship touches down on the ground, I pull my hood up, which has a dark blue stripe running down the middle, push a button on my console and get out of the pilot's seat, walking towards the opening hatch.

All activity in the docking bay ceased, with mandalorians standing at attention, saluting me. Fifty mandalorian soldiers are standing on my left and right, wearing the new armor I created for them.

Standing at 6 feet tall, the armor is designed just like the armor the Roman Empire used millennia ago, but with many notable differences. For starters, the armor is thicker so it can resist lazer fire and is jet black with the ear holes on the helmet covered up so no weak points are exposed. The same goes for the entire arms and legs, although the leg plates for the lower leg were also used by the old Romans and the fingers are pointed in case any soldiers want to get up close and personal. The magnetic belt around the waist where all of their weapons are held to, however, is a dark grey. On the front, there's a currently-turned off life support device built on the chest to regulate oxygen so they can be anywhere, even on the almost-barren world of Mandalore. In addition, there's a sheath on the back above the hexagonal-shaped oxygen tank where rifles will be held. But the most intimidating and awesome part of the armor is the mask. The helmet is designed just like a Roman's helmet, but instead of a bare face, I can only see a pointed mask with bright yellow eyes, the mask having much resemblance to the masks European doctors wore during the Black Death, another subject that was fascinating to me. All in all, the armor's ability to intimidate never ceases to impress me.

Slowly, I walk past the rows of soldiers to meet the grey-haired captain of the _Black Phoenix_. "Captain Karath. Take me to Pre Vizsla." I said calmly, my hood still covering my face.

"Yes, my Emperor." He said, then turns around and walks away, me following closely behind. After a few minutes, we leave the hangar and come to New Concordia. It's a vast city that stretches out for miles in either direction with winding roads with speeders flying every which way and tall, 3-story metal buildings for families to live in, along with 1-story, squat bars for people to take a break from the long work. Also, I can tell that there are many barracks in case of an invasion, as well as rectangular factories towering over all the buildings, producing ship parts and the new standard armor. I observe this from the glass tube that is hundreds of feet above the city. But in the distance is the most impressive sight of all. On the edge of the city, my first ship ports are at work, experimenting the first line of ships I created: Assassin-class fighter ships.

At 20 feet long, this fighter features a large black sphere in the center for a pilot center, with sliding doors and tinted glass tilted down so no one can see inside. It even has 2 triple turrets on either side that shoot out plasma beams. Yes, I had all lazer technology disassembled and for its practicality and brutality, chose to replace it with plasma shots. I know that the lasers that power all of the galaxy's weapons do use plasma as well, but I am having the mandalorians upgrade the weapons so that they shoot a dark blue plasma shot which is larger than the normal laser and the weapons themselves will have better accurate and be less clumsy to wield than their cousins which are wielded across the galaxy in various forms. For the wings, it has 2 long black shaped like right triangles facing out, with the tips meeting the cockpit. Finally, in the middle of these pointed wings are 4 slots on each wing so high-powered missiles can be fired out of in a tight squeeze. Bombing run strategies will be left up to their cousins, who haven't started being produced yet.

After a good 10 minutes of slow walking, we reach the other side. The doors swing apart, revealing a fancy office, full of galactic technology and a metal desk. Sitting behind the desk, Pre Vizsla is going over some data on a data pad before looking up. When he sees me, he jumps to his feet. "Emperor Peverell. You are just on time. Captain, you're dismissed." Vizsla said.

Karath nods and walks out of the office, the doors sliding closed behind him. "Droid, bring us some that tasty Earth drink, vodka. Emperor, we have much to discuss." He continues, sitting back down. I grab one of the chairs in front of the desk and also get seated, pulling my hood down.

"So. What are the reports on the city? Most importantly, how did the experiments for the Beamspace drives work out?" I ask curiously. That's yet another change I made in our new military's hardware. We took the old hyperspace drives and with my personal help, experimented with the wizarding technique of apparition, fusing the 2 ideas together to create an engine that can teleport any distance in the galaxy. Because of the requirement of immensely accurate coordinates and calculations to prevent the ship from tearing itself apart, I named it Beamspace.

"Our Beamspace drives…worked surprisingly well, judging by all the completely new equipment we've been working with. We managed to teleport them from point A to point B without issue, but it took longer than I hoped to get it right. Now, while production of the new fighters are also taking longer than I would like, they will be completed with test flights and everything within the month. For the rest of the ships, ship ports are already preparing for their assembly. I hope you don't mind, Emperor, but I must ask: Why are we building completely new star ships and armor when we could be creating weapons and armor that the Old Sith Empire created millennia ago?" Vizsla asks, looking at me with a hint of curiosity.

I knew the question was coming a mile away, maybe farther. "There's a very simple answer to that question, so to answer it, I will ask you a question. I know it will sound silly, but hear me out. Why do math problems take a long time to solve?"

Vizsla stares at me dumbfounded for a few seconds before mulling over my question for several minutes before his eyes light up. "Because one has to take time to solve for an individual component so they can attain the true answer."

"Exactly. So, if we throw so many unknown components at the Republic and the ever-growing Separatist faction, they will be overwhelmed and start scrambling over themselves to figure out exactly what we are capable of and what we will do in the upcoming war. Besides, I've always heard that all species', particularly man's, biggest fear is the unknown." I respond, grinning at the end.

Vizsla grins back. "You are a true Sith, Emperor. Now, for the rest of the reports." He said as the protocol droid comes back, 2 glasses of vodka, to which we sip on as we discuss the reports in even greater depth. Needless to say, the reports are even more hopeful than I originally thought. Aside from the occasional bar fight, the mandalorians are cooperating extremely well and production, once it goes underway, will mass produce new technologies on a scale that will rival Earth's Industrial Revolution. In addition, Vizsla and I agree that the underground ship ports will not be large enough for ship production once the large war ships start being made due to space issue. So to avoid the problem, we decide to build ship ports and an eventual colony inside Jupiter.

"Well, that all sounds good. If you need me for anything else, I will be at home. Have a nice day." I said after the much-needed discussion finishes. I nod to the mandalorian commander, who salutes me back, and walk out of the office. After several silent minutes of walking, I return to _Pathos_ and fly out of the underground colony. Once in space, I re-activate the cloaking device and fly my fighter past Earth's satellites and back towards Athens. Soon, my manor is in sight again and precisely fly it into the chapel. Deactivating the ship, I open the cockpit and jump out, a smile on my face.

So much is going right on my birthday! Right now, I'm going to pop open a beer and just relax for a few more days before I more actively take part in my Empire's growth, then start creating detailed plans to integrate Earth into my forces. Creating more advanced weapons for the planet to ease them into my domain, then shutting them down when the invasion starts sounds like a good idea. But as I walk towards my house, shutting the chapel doors in the process, I notice a large brown owl sitting on the rickety railing on the front porch. The part that made my stomach lurch a little is the letter in the owl's beak, bearing the official Gringotts seal. The owl drops the letter, hoots then flies away. Gingerly, I pick up the letter and walk inside, opening it up as I walk towards the kitchen.

All the while, I am reading and re-reading the letter, making sure I am not dreaming what it says. In summary, I am screwed. Gringotts had figured out I had returned, but it took them a long time to actually find me. Now that they did, they are sending a goblin representative to meet with me about a matter that just occurred. Fortunately, my house is renovated so it looks like a normal mansion's interior. If this goblin doesn't enter my chapel, catacombs or dungeon below, then he will find nothing that hints at the fact I haven't been on this planet for years. Casually, I sit down on the large leather couch facing the fireplace in the living room.

There I sit until the fireplace catches fire. But it isn't a normal fire; it's a green fire that I've seen in the past, so I know the Floo network had been connected here. Speaking of magical fire, maybe I should invest time in finding the lost formula for creating Greek fire; fire like that would definitely give my military power a leg up. After a split second, a sulky-looking goblin wearing a fancy suit walks in, holding a manila folder. The interesting part is that I can sense the Force radiating from the goblin.

"Harry Potter. It's nice to finally meet you at last. I must say, you hid yourself most impressively." The goblin said, bowing to me.

I bow back, a gesture he looks very surprised about, and answer. "Thank you. As for my name, I am not Harry Potter anymore. It's Harrison Peverell now. But, the real question is: Who are you?"

"My name is Griphook, Mr. Peverell. You shocked the Wizarding World with your disappearance, most of them wondering where you went or why you left." Griphook said, snorting at the end.

I crack a smile at his bluntness and obvious dislike of the wizards' culture. "The answer to that is simple, really. They always jump the gun and worship it like the 2nd coming of Christ while they discredit or outright hate anything that doesn't stand with their stagnancy. I would know that and felt my talents were better served elsewhere." I respond casually, leaning back on my couch.

Griphook nods in agreement. "You are right there, Mr. Peverell. On behalf of the British branch of Gringotts, I must ask. Where have you been for the last few years?"

As quickly as I could, I wrack my brain for anything that would explain my absence from society, my new fighting skills and the money needed to…The answer clicked in my mind right there and then. "Well, Griphook, it's simple. On my 7th birthday, I met with a distant relative on my dad's side, don't ask me because he never said his name, who told me of a secret cult who lived in northern Europe. He passed away as I made the journey and in the Scandinavian mountains, found the cult he was referring to. They showed me many ways to use magic to protect others and nothing else. Seeing my talents wasted again, I left after several years and joined a band of mercenaries. They showed me how to fight and we took on many contracts. However, after a while, the mercenary life got to them and they started getting violent in their contracts. Once again, I secretly left with bags of their money, bought this place, Lockhill manor, and decided to just enjoy my life while I figure out what I want to do next."

'Note to self: Have Pre Vizsla send some soldiers here to assassinate powerful people with serious bounties on their heads so my story is plausible.' I add in my mind.

Griphook raises an eyebrow at my story. "That's an interesting story, Mr. Peverell."

"Thank you. Now, you said that something came up? Can you please elaborate on that?" I ask, starting to get a little anxious.

"Of course, Mr. Peverell." Griphook responds, handing me the folder.

I take it, bowing my head in gratitude, and open it. As I read further into the page, the more I blanch. I have only heard of these contracts in the past, but to see one tagged onto me is horrifying.

It's a marriage contract that requires me to return to the magical world by my 18th birthday. In addition, the girl I am contracted to brings back memories of my early life. "What is this?" I ask angrily, a thick layer of venom evident in my voice.

Apparently, my grip on my Force powers also slipped a little as Griphook's eyes widen in surprise. "As you can see, Mr. Peverell, you are required to marry one Ms. Fleur Delacour by your 18th birthday. Before you ask, the contract was signed by both Lords Potter and Delacour about a month ago, so it can't be reversed."

I wrack my brain, trying to figure out why they would do this now. I knew the Delacours years ago, so unless they've changed immensely, they wouldn't do something like this so suddenly. "So. What prompted this contract's creation?"

"Well, Mr. Peverell. Your old friends and family are still grief-stricken about your disappearance. Apparently, you left quite an impression on Lord Delacour's eldest daughter, Fleur. She gave consent to this contract so you would come back after the Lords wrote up the draft." Griphook responds, looking a little annoyed at their less-than-subtle actions.

I, however, am furious on the inside. While I am intrigued by how Fleur didn't just have a crush on me, it still doesn't give any of them an excuse to intrude on my personal life. They will pay dearly for this act. "I see. Is there anything else on the contract I should know about?"

"No, sir. No bindings, no heirs required, nothing. Just the contract's portkey magic so it can pull you back to the Wizarding World if needed. However, it's also worth noting that if either you or Fleur have a serious affair with another person, you will be heavily punished and the contract is void."

Slowly, I stroke my chin, trying to figure out a way around this. There are many loopholes to this contract, but for now, I have to set up the illusion that everything is going as they planned. At the precise moment of carelessness, I will ensure the contract is terminated and make them suffer heavily. "They are all arrogant fools, if they think they can control my actions in any way. I assure you, Griphook, once I figure out how to beat them down and teach them a lesson once and for all, they will learn what happens to those who get in my way."

For the first time during our little chat, Griphook actually gives me a wicked smile and I sense a hint of respect from him. "I like your style, Mr. Peverell. If you ever wish to make contact with Gringotts, just ask for me. For now, I shall leave you be." He turns around, taking out some Floo powder from the pouch on his belt and flicking it in my fireplace.

Like before, a green fire flares to life that Griphook walks through before disappearing, the flames dying out quickly.

I let out a tremendous sigh and walk back to the kitchen with the intent of having some whiskey. I take back what I said earlier.

Today absolutely sucks, especially since now I have to figure out what to do to keep my infernal parents and Fleur off my tracks so by the time they figure out what's really going on, they will not live to see the next dawn.

* * *

 _AN:_ Yes, this is more of a filler chapter.

Next time, we get into an arc of this story that is mandatory and I have some interesting ideas for it. Yes, I had the over-used Gringotts visit, but tried twisting it so they would meet him. As for Fleur, she really does love Harrison, so to her, the best way to magically bring him back is to use a marriage contract also rigged with a portkey so Harrison would be pulled back to Earth no matter what. I could have picked another person, but for an idea I had a long time ago, it must be this way.

See you all next time!

PS: I may take a break from writing next week. For the next 2 weeks, I have normal schoolwork, as well as learning how to drive for my upcoming driver's test and endure ACT review and taking practice tests for it. So yeah.


	5. Chapter 5: A 4th Champion?

**October 31** **st**

 **1994**

 **7:00 pm Earth time**

 **Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry**

 **Scotland**

 **Earth**

* * *

 **Nobody's POV:**

* * *

Tonight is the long-awaited night.

The Great Hall for England's prized Wizarding School is packed to the brim with young witches and wizards, eager to learn how to use their magic for a 7-year period of time. A tradition that has been passed down for over a thousand years.

But tonight, the students of Hogwarts are also joined by the best students of 2 other famous European schools: Beauxbatons and Durmstrang. Their attention is fixed upon the staff table where a goblet sits on a rickety stool, fire crackling inside the goblet. In addition to the students, all of Hogwarts' staff is present, including the judges for the infamous Tri-Wizard Tournament, a tournament that was ended 202 years before because the death toll became too numerous; Madame Maxime, Igor Karkaroff and Albus Dumbledore themselves.

Albus, dressed in purple robes, gazes upon the crowd. Then, he stretches his arms wide. "Students, teachers near and far. The Goblet of Fire is close to making its decision, so I shall briefly explain the rules. There will be 3 magical trials that shall test the champions. They must rely on ingenuity, creativity and magic to succeed." He announces. As the students cheer for the aged headmaster, his eyes linger upon a face in the crowd and his gaze settles on a certain trio of Gryffindors.

Hailey Lily Potter grew up into a graceful young woman with mid-back length black hair, natural red streaks in it; dark brown eyes and wearing the glasses James is required to wear. She is somewhat spoiled after years of being worshipped as the Girl-Who-Lived, but her faith in Dumbledore is truly formidable. On either side are her best friends, Ronald Weasley and Hermione Granger. Despite some problems in the past, the trio had always pulled through in their adventures, closer friends than before.

For the rest of the school, they either adored Hailey or were neutral in the debate. The only people who truly loathe her, however, are the Slytherins. As Dumbledore stares at the Girl-Who-Lived, a wave of sadness flows through him.

Dumbledore never forgot Hailey's older brother, Harry Potter. When Dumbledore declared Hailey the child to end the Dark Lord, he never intended for the family to grow distant with each other. Granted, reporters have a strange knack for messing people's lives up, but for Harry to be pushed to the brink and run away from the Wizarding World was something he never saw coming. Lily and James were distraught about it, still distraught as they find different ways to bring him back and say they are sorry for their actions. The most unorthodox and recent attempt involves a marriage contract.

Suddenly, a whooshing sound pulls Dumbledore's attention away from Hailey, only to see the Goblet of Fire now shooting out blue flames and a single piece of parchment flying out. Quickly, Dumbledore snatches the piece of paper and opens it. Clearing his throat, he announces the champion.

"For Beauxbatons, the Champion is… Fleur Delacour!"

Several students give polite applause for her as the now-proclaimed Champion stands up. Fleur looks around at the Halls, wishing deep down that Harry is here to see this moment and be proud for her, before walking off to a side-chamber. After a few moments, silence returns as everyone watches the Goblet erupt again and a 2nd piece of parchment flies into the air. Like before, Dumbledore grabs it and reads it.

"For Durmstrang, the Champion is… Victor Krum!"

Even more students cheer loudly for the Bulgarian Champion as he stands up and also walks to the side chamber. It takes a few minutes, but the silence eventually returns. Once again, the Goblet starts shooting blue flames and a 3rd piece of parchment flies out. For the third time, Dumbledore grabs the slip and announces the 3rd champion.

"Finally, the Hogwarts Champion is… Cedric Diggory!"

Like the previous time, loud cheers echo through the Great Hall, the loudest coming from the Hufflepuff table. Now is their chance to prove that they are just as worthwhile to Wizarding Society as the rest of the Houses.

"Excellent, excellent!" Dumbledore announces, successfully quieting the rest of Hogwarts' population. "Now, for some more details, the First Task will be held on…"

"Wait a second. What's that?" Ludo Bagman shouts, interrupting Dumbledore as he stares at the Goblet of Fire, which is doing something very strange indeed. It is erupting in blue flames yet again and a 4th parchment slip shoots out, floating in the air. Curiosity getting the best of Dumbledore, he grabs the piece and reads the name. His jaw drops for a second as he reads and re-reads the slip, wondering if he really has gone senile as people like Lord Lucius Malfoy claim.

"Well? What does it say?" Karkaroff snaps, already losing his patience.

Dumbledore gulps a little, muttering the name a little before he regains his vocal strength and announces the name.

"Harry Potter!"

Instead of cheering, stunned silence and absolute confusion reign. Hailey goes pale as she remembers her older brother, Ron and Hermione joining in on the whispers breaking out everywhere. In that moment, the Goblet of Fire shoots out an even larger flame than before, this one bright gold. It's not common knowledge, but when the Goblet was created, it was also rigged so that if a person's name is called out, but he or she is not present at the Tournament, they can be pulled towards the location where the Tournament's being held using the same teleportation magic portkeys operate on. Everyone stops talking to stare in shock at the roaring inferno before them, sweat trickling down their faces from the sweltering heat. Mere seconds pass before the flames start tinting black and the fire recoils back into the Goblet, as if the flames are afraid of something.

"Headmaster. What is going on?" Hogwarts Potions Master Severus Snape all but demands, looking outright confused by these events. He has always appreciated Harry since the young boy reminds the Potions master of himself and knows that if Harry's anything like Severus, then something else is going on.

"Severus, I have no earthly idea." Dumbledore responds honestly, staring at the wooden goblet. For some reason, Dumbledore can't help but feel a sense of doom for what is about to come, like something terrible is about to happen and he can't do anything to stop it.

* * *

 **November 1** **st**

 **9:14 am Earth Time**

 **Peverell Manor**

 **Athens, Greece**

* * *

 **Harrison Peverell's POV:**

* * *

What the hell is being pulled on me?

For the last month, I oversaw the final experimentation then mass production of the Assassin-class fighters and the beginning stages for the creation of their cousins, the Z-wings. They are shaped like zeppelins but the curved back of the ship is replaced with a single engine and the wings make a Z shape when fully extended, giving them their names.

These black and orange ships may only be 30 feet long, but they are my military's official bombers, delivering powerful punches to enemy ships and has enough defenses, speed and firepower to hold its down in combat. Speaking of bombs, I have finally convinced Vizsla to send some mandalorians to Earth so we can start our search for the formula to make Greek fire. The search is bleak, but there are several leads that show promise.

Even more importantly, I am secretly aiding that same squad of mandalorians on mercenary trips so they can take down rising dictators and corrupt businessmen not only to put Earth money in my pockets that will allow me to one day start the titan company that will advance the world in many ways, but also leave them vulnerable when the planet is conquered. But the real reason I'm doing this is so the story I told to Griphook a month ago is believable.

Everything was going wonderfully, until last night's incident. I was about to start cooking myself a delicious dinner after another long day of directing my army, when I felt this strange sensation come over me. It felt like an aura of fire was surrounding me, trying to consume me. But I lashed out with my Dark Side powers and the strange fire pulled away from me, sensing my power. Only after the strange moment subsided did I realize that the blasted fire had left scorch marks on my hard-wood floor in the kitchen.

After fixing my re-done floor and making myself some spaghetti and meatballs, I go to my bedroom upstairs and start drifting to sleep. In that moment of exhaustion, I realized that I want someone at my side, supporting me as I cleanse the entire galaxy of its corruption and greed. Who knows, it might be Fleur if she's willing to join my Empire. The next morning, I woke up and went to make myself breakfast when an owl flew at my window, a copy of the _Daily Prophet_. Hey, I may despise Wizarding Britain, but that should not prevent me from keeping tabs on everything that's going on. Quickly, I opened the window to let the owl in, took the paper and after putting a knut in the pouch, waved my hand at the owl's face. Just a simple Force technique that twists one's memories, making the victim think they see one thing when it's something else; in this case, I am making the owl forget my face to keep my secrecy absolute. The owl hoots in gratitude and flies out the open window.

I walked over to the window and close it. After stretching my tight muscles, I picked up the newspaper and got seated on my light blue wooden chair as I opened the paper to read it.

Its contents left me petrified, my need for coffee before training with my lightsaber gone. As I read the front article of the _Daily Prophet_ , one question buzzes in my mind: What the hell is going on?

 **Missing Harry Potter: The Fourth Champion?**

 **By Rita Skeeter**

 **Last night, myself and other reporters were gathered in the Great Hall at Hogwarts, School of Witchcraft and Wizardry to witness the selection of the champions to represent Hogwarts, Beauxbatons and Durmstrang in the Tri-Wizard Tournament (for more information on the Tri-Wizard Tournament, turn to page 3).**

 **Everything went as it should. For Beauxbatons, the champion was Fleur Delacour; for Durmstrang, their champion was Victor Krum; for Hogwarts, their champion was Cedric Diggory. But after the 3 champions were declared, the Goblet of Fire shot out another name: Harry Potter, elder brother of the Girl-Who-Lived Hailey Potter (for more information on the Girl-Who-Lived and the Dark Lord's defeat, turn to page 2.) Harry Potter disappeared on his 7** **th** **birthday 9 years ago. After 4 years of searching, the Ministry of Magic declared him missing presumed dead. But with this alarming change of events, I can now conclude that the Ministry was wrong.**

 **These events also bring up numerous questions: Why did the Girl-Who-Lived's older brother run away? Where did he go? Most importantly, did he enter his name into the Goblet of Fire to gain our attention?**

 **Well, my faithful readers, I will keep you up to date on the Harry Potter debate.**

The rest of the paper just talks about the newest Quidditch brooms, plans for the next season, you name it.

However, my shock turns to a rage so great my manor starts shaking, nearly knocking over the grandfather clock on the right wall of the living room. Feeling the earthquake, I regain control of most of my anger. Who dared enter my name in the Goblet, indeed! As for entering my name for attention, are the people of Wizarding Britain really that stupid?

This is bad. Like, really bad. Quickly, I think of different scenarios on how I can turn this situation to my advantage. I grab a piece of paper and start writing down my ideas for several minutes while I sip on that black cup of coffee with a cube of sugar in it. Coming up with a plan I think will put me not only on track, but better than before, I walk down the hall next to the staircase and enter my private office. It's a fancy room, with a wooden desk, a stuffed leather chair and 2 dark oak bookshelves which are full of my vast collection of books and have 2 marble busts of Achilles and Adolf Hitler, one on each shelf. Achilles was the perfect warrior so I always had respect for him and Adolf Hitler was a complete psychopath, but as a Sith, I can relate to the long-dead Nazi in several ways. But his desire to execute people by the thousands was a step too far. Reaching my desk, I slide my chair out of the way and open a trapdoor hidden underneath. From inside, I pull out a 3-feet long circular communication device and set it on my desk. Once I pull the trapdoor closed and activate the device, I seat myself in the leather chair and wait.

Fortunately for my temper, I didn't have to wait long before Pre Vizsla appears on the screen. "My lord, is there a problem? I was about to aid Bo-Katan in overseeing the Z-wing's production."

"Vizsla, I'm giving you temporary command of my Empire. I had been drafted to return to the Wizarding World. No, you may not ask why." I snap at his look of shock that morphs into one of confusion. "Anyway, I will not be in contact with you for many days, maybe even a few months. But this will be to my advantage, for I will start secretly doing the 1 thing we couldn't do before: Start recruiting, determine who is powerful enough to be worth paying attention to and whatnot. Once I have safely re-established communications, I will take over again. Is that clear?"

"Yes sir." Vizsla said, standing at attention.

"Good. As for my orders until I can return, continue production as planned and after building a shipyard inside Jupiter to hold our ships, begin building the light battleships. But be discrete. The humans of Earth may have primitive technology, their satellites will no doubt pick up our ship's activity if we are careless and are trying to leap ahead with the plans of also building a colony on Mars. So don't underestimate them. That will be all." With that, I cut the transmission off and let out a long sigh to curb my growing frustration.

I stand up and after using the Force to put the device in a large brown satchel hanging behind my chair, I head to my underground dungeons to begin the final preparation for my extended trip. Down in the re-modeled dungeons are numerous cells, but one of them holds a single cauldron and potions ingredients. I spend the majority of the day creating the one potion that will guarantee my safe entrance and some quick lightsaber training to give the potion time to simmer and do everything it needs, according to the recipe I stole from an old Wizarding library.

While I agree that most of the wizard's ethics and magic are outdated and stupid, there are some things they achieved that Jedi and Sith can never hope to achieve. A prime example is apparition, a technique that creates a tiny split in the walls of reality to teleport. While it is the reason Beamspace exists, it's safe to do if kept under control. However, if a Force-user tried doing it without taking precautions…the consequences would be disastrous. Right now, I am making a potion that creates fake memories in my mind that shield my real ones for 2 hours. This particular potion was created as an unorthodox method of protecting against mind-reading powers of all varieties.

I do indeed know about the sorting hat which places Hogwarts students in 1 of the 4 houses based on their qualities. In case Dumbledore or anyone else tries subtly tries weeding information out of the hat involving my location, he will only know what they know. But for extra measure, I'll need to include a red herring.

After many hours, I am feeling extremely confident in my lightsaber combat, dressed in fancy black and blue robes and have the potion ready. For my lightsaber, I will pass it off as a wand and also put up an illusion around it. With my satchel thrown over my shoulders, I walk out of the manor that has been my home for many months. Closing my eyes, I reach out and sink myself into the Force. Using a dangerous technique used the first time, my body starts dissolving into thin air and after several minutes, I open my eyes.

Before me is the tall and proud castle known as Hogwarts, the Forbidden Forest all around me. While it's not as fast as apparition and limited to travel across a single planet with an atmosphere to keep me down, it's much safer. Squaring my shoulders, I take long strides towards the school which is having dinner at the moment. No doubt that arrogant fool of a man Dumbledore is present.

As I approach the castle, my Force tingles and shows me the wards. They are indeed powerful but haven't been re-built in a while. I smile a little and raise my hands, concentrating the Dark Side of the Force into a dark red ball of light.

With all my might, I thrust it towards the barrier. It never stood a chance before a small crack appears in the wards, allowing me to enter without restriction. Once I re-build the wards I damaged, a feat that would bring way too much attention to me, I pull out the vial of liquid and drink its contents. I gag for a few seconds on the horrid taste before it goes completely down and I already feel the fake memories I applied to the potion trickling into my mind.

Despite my reluctance to come here, I can't help but feel like something is here for me. Something that will make my time here worthwhile; something that doesn't include recruitment for my cause.

* * *

 _AN:_ I'm sorry, but here's another filler chapter to fill the month-long gap .

While this might not be the best thing to do after taking last week off, I will all work out.

Soon, the Tri-Wizard Tournament arc will begin and boy, let me tell you, I have some cool plans for that.

See you next time when Harrison Peverell finally confronts the people he was once associated with.

Later.


	6. Chapter 6: The Sorting

**November 1** **st**

 **1994**

 **5:45 pm Earth time**

 **Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry**

 **Scotland**

 **Earth**

* * *

 **Harrison Peverell's POV:**

* * *

Once I felt the strong tingling around my head, a sign that the potion worked as it should according to the potions book I nabbed a while back, I start my walk up the hill towards the tall, antique castle.

Despite my intense hatred of this place because this is where most of the people who are a part of the broken British Wizarding Society were taught at, I can't help but feel awestruck by the sight of the truly majestic castle, its rolling fields and vast forest. It would be…such a shame for it to be destroyed when the mandatory purging of the entire Wizarding World occurs. Maybe this could be used for my benefit when the dust settles.

I am so concentrated on my thoughts that when I return my focus to the real world, I realize that I have already reached the front entrance to the castle. It appears my musings will have to wait for now. In the distance, I notice the large carriage that the Beauxbatons students arrived in, pulled by large winged horses that look dangerously awesome and the large ship moored to a dock on the edge of the Black Lake, the moon reflecting off the water's smooth surface. Now that's an interesting idea for the mandalorians to work on, but later. They are already working overtime on the plans for my new warships, fighters and a top-secret project that requires so much accuracy that even though the project is starting, it will take a year at least to finish.

The 'security' here is pitifully lax, concerning the fact that no guards are around like there were at the Jedi Temple and even if the front door is closed, I can sense that none of the locks are being used. But I underestimate the headmaster and his connection to the castle. The old loser himself must have sensed my entrance and is beginning to lock the front entrance. Grinning like a madman at the challenge being presented, I lift my right arm and concentrate on creating a Force push. The doors actually resist my push at first, but then I steadily apply more power to the assault. The wooden doors stand their ground for a split second longer before several wood beams start cracking from the increased pressure and having nothing more to give, the locks crack apart as the doors swing inward, permitting me to enter. Swishing my grin to a smirk of triumph, I walk with a grace of confidence that the 'purebloods' here in England are infamous for. Stupid arrogant descendants of Jedi who abandoned their order's traditions to survive.

But I am once again disappointed in the pathetic excuse called security for this Tri-Wizard Tournament as no aurors or the like run out and try to stop me. Before me, several paintings are staring at me with looks of shock and outrage. Rolling my eyes at the whispers directed at me, I make my way up the crème-colored hall towards a 2nd set of wooden doors. Suits of armor line the walls, the light gleaming off their freshly polished armor. I almost pity the poor soul who was tasked with cleaning this castle for the tournament. Each step I take to the 2nd set of doors send faint but noticeable echoes through the empty stone hallways. Once I arrive at the double doors, I press my right hand against the doors and concentrate on the Force again. These doors are much more cooperative than the ones at the main entrance since these have much weaker shielding and smash wide open, kicking up a brief storm of tiny splinters as the doors bang loudly against the walls. When the dust settles, I stroll into the view of all those in the hall with a small smirk on my face. On either side of me, 2 long wooden tables with different banners hanging over them are full of people young and in their late teens staring at me with expressions that show their fear. Among the crowd are people who I immediately recognize: Daphne Greengrass, Fred and George Weasley, Ronald Weasley, my little sister Hailey, just to name a few. I pay no attention to any of them as my eyes slowly drift upwards to the horizontal table where, standing before his golden chair that looks more like a throne, is the old man who ruined any chance of a normal life for me.

"Albus Dumbledore. We meet again at long last." I state dryly with my hands behind my back. The aged headmaster standing up to face me stares at my face for several seconds before he notices my K-scar on my temple and his face morphs from outrage to complete shock. Through the Force, I can also sense that several others also recognize me and the tension already filling the air only rises to new heights.

"Harry?" Dumbledore asks hesitantly, unprepared for this confrontation. The other staff members, along with Maxime and Karkaroff, only just realize this and are also stunned at my sudden appearance.

"Once Harry. But now I am Peverell. Harrison Peverell." I respond with a touch of humor in my voice. Yes, when I got back here, I spent much of my free time getting acquainted with the cultures of this world and it has helped me come far in many ways. Watching the James Bond movies was on that list.

Dumbledore just stares at me with an expression that shows his indecisiveness on whether or not he should be taken aback or being relieved that I'm OK. Severus Snape, a man I once looked up to, retains his dumb-founded face and Deputy Headmistress Minerva looks like she's trying not to lecture me about manners. "Well, then, Mr. Peverell. I assume you have come because of the Tri-Wizard Tournament?" Dumbledore asks, trying to stare me in the eyes. But I tilt my head in a different direction so his Legitimancy trick doesn't work. I know I have fake memories in my head that are mixing with my own to create confusion, but I'd rather play it safe.

"Yes, I would like to know about how my name got entered here into a tournament, hosted by a school I have never set foot in my entire life." I respond, now with a cold tone that catches a few students offguard. Whispers break out around me, particularly from the dear Fleur Delacour who is staring at me with wide eyes. As much as I don't want to admit it, she's definitely grown up into a graceful woman. But with a sharp glare from a staff member, the whispers die out.

"Mr. Peverell, I can assure you that I am still trying to figure out how your name got entered into the Tournament." Dumbledore responds. And despite my bad experience with the old fool, I can sense that he is telling the truth. I will need to figure out who did it myself and maybe he or she can make a pawn in a game I am going to orchestrate here.

"So, because I have been drafted into this… _contest_ , I have no way of withdrawing my participation?" I ask, curious to hear Dumbledore's response and what his perspective of me being drafted here is.

"No, Mr. Peverell. Since your name was pulled from the Goblet of Fire, you are bound to participate in the Tri-Wizard Tournament or you will use your magic. I'm sorry, but because of this, you must select what school you will be representing now." Dumbledore responds with a clam tone that betrays no triumph or frustration at my denial. But I briefly mull over what he told me. Lose my connection to the Force? While I am skeptical about the claim that I would lose all of my connection, I will need all the power I can get if I am to cleanse the galaxy of what's to come. It's starting to look like I need to steal this Goblet of Fire and hide it from Wizarding Society.

"Eh, what the heck. I will become a student here at Hogwarts. My name's still down on the student list so why not satisfy the old debt?" I respond nonchalantly, still keeping my eyes averted enough to not be affected by any mind-related Force technique.

"Very well then. Let's get you sorted, shall we?" Dumbledore asks, looking grateful at how pleasant the conversation went. Oh, his patience will be put to the test later. The old headmaster then pulls out his wand, a black stick with numerous bumps on it, getting smaller as they reach the pointed tip. My eyes widen as I sense the raw darkness radiating from that wand. Whoever made the wand must have been a master of the Dark Side. Dumbledore waves it in the air and at speeds that surprised even me, the Sorting Hat zooms into his outstretched hand. Shrugging a little, I walk through the Great Hall towards the staff table and after turning around to see the bated looks on everyone's faces as the hat drops over my eyes. It's bigger on the inside than it looks. Let's see if that potion was worth anything.

'Ah, Mr. Potter. I've been expecting you for quite some time.' A small voice in the back of my head says, nearly making me jump in surprise.

'It's Peverell now.' I mentally respond, wanting to get this over with.

'I see. Now let's get you sorted. Hmmmm…Very interesting. You have had a hard life, traveling the world and working as a mercenary. You have a loyalty to those you truly care for, but Hufflepuff doesn't suit you. You are indeed cunning, but not the kind Slytherin is known for.'

'And I don't despise muggles or muggle-borns.' I add quickly.

The Sorting Hat actually chuckles at my dry comment. 'True, true. Slytherin doesn't work for you after all. Your vast knowledge of the world and willingness to try new things leaves my choice obvious. I hope you find a better life in…' Then the hat shouts the final word, "Ravenclaw!"

Quickly, I pull the hat off, ecstatic that the potion really worked and that my cover is still strong. The other occupants of Hogwarts, however, look damn shocked by the results of the sorting. But the blue and bronze house do give me some polite claps. I give them a quick bow of appreciation, a gesture that makes a few people chuckle, and start strolling towards the Ravenclaw table and get seated with my housemates on the far end of the table. "Well…welcome to Ravenclaw." A young Asian-looking girl says uncertainly.

"Why, thank you." I respond and dig into the chicken wings, green beans, mashed potatoes and more. When the desserts appear, I help myself to numerous helpings of chocolate ice cream and trickle tart. I'll try much more later as my new life here progresses. After the desserts completely disappear, the students all stand up, me included, but before I can join my housemates, Dumbledore calls my attention again.

"Mr. Peverell. I would like to see you tomorrow morning outside my office so we can talk about your attendance here." He says with a wide smile he must think is charming. I nod in respect to Dumbledore, but before I can join my housemates, I feel Dumbledore's hand on my shoulder. Can't he leave me alone for 1 second? "I'm sorry, but you won't be joining the rest of the Ravenclaws in their dormitory. The house has no more room so I will provide you a guest chamber for you to stay in."

My eyes widen in surprise and suspicion of what he's up to, but I decide to roll with it. "Lead the way." The Headmaster of Hogwarts simply nods and leads me through the side chamber on the left of the Great Hall and through the narrow, winding hallways, lined with paintings and suits of armor. How do these guys even know where they are going, especially with any possible land markings constantly moving around? While we are walking, I can feel the fake memories beginning to dissipate into nothing, which is both relieving and putting me on edge; as if the floating ghosts or talking paintings aren't doing that enough.

"Here we are." Dumbledore says once we turn right for the first time and come face to face with yet another wooden door. The old coot walks towards the door and opens it up. Inside is a vast hallway with numerous beds and space. Apparently, Beauxbatons nor Durmstrang decided to take advantage of these chambers.

"Thank you…for your hospitality." I say with fake gratitude in my voice. The naïve old man bought it and smiles back.

Before he leaves, he says one last thing to me. "And, Mr. Peverell. I'm sorry about what happened all those years ago. I only did what I thought was right."

Once he closes the doors, I scoff. "Yeah, like he's telling the truth. He probably chose my sister to be the next in line to carry out his 'Greater Good'." I mumble as I drop the satchel I have had the entire time next to the nearest bed. It's common knowledge that Dumbledore's trying to reshape the Wizarding World into a world he thinks is best for all, nicknaming his whole agenda 'the Greater Good.' I have heard that term used by Dumbledore a lot when he used to come over to my former home after a Wizengamot meeting and talk to James about how 'the Greater Good for all wizards can be done this way,' blah, blah, blah. I stand there in the center of the plain room and concentrate on the Dark Side, seeing if Dumbles or anyone else bugged the room. Surprisingly, I don't sense anything out of the ordinary. That will not last forever, so I will need to keep checking the room each night for any listening devices or charms.

Making sure to lay my satchel under the closest bed and out of view, I pull the dark blue covers back and after pulling off my robes to reveal my black shirt and shorts and hanging the robes on a nearby hanger, I crawl under the sheets, only now feeling exhausted after the long day I just had and the exertion I used on those warded doors. I think I'm going to need to really push myself later in Force use if I am to truly consider myself a master of the Dark Side and earn the title of Darth.

In that moment, as I stare up at the ceiling with my eyes closing and sleep fast approaching, I make a revelation: The Force wanted me to be a part of this tournament so I can start rebuilding the Sith Order in the same way the Jedi Order is set up and to give me the chance I never had before. The chance to find out how to use the Force in new yet more deadly ways.

The Force truly does work in mysterious ways.

* * *

 _AN:_ Sorry for a short chapter.

But anyway, yes, Harrison Peverell is in Ravenclaw house.

I just thought that would be appropriate. As for not joining the rest of Ravenclaw, I honestly think it makes more sense. For one thing, more students get sorted there than graduate from Hogwarts so there would be no room, and it gives him some easily-accessible and needed space to talk with the mandalorians. If he was in Ravenclaw common room, the risk of being overheard is through the roof and leaving the dormitory at night is too risky.

But anyway, see you next time when the 1st classes, talks and arguments break out. Bye.


	7. Chapter 7: Gaining a Foothold

**November 2** **nd**

 **1994**

 **6:15 am Earth time**

 **Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry**

 **Scotland**

 **Earth**

* * *

 **Harrison Peverell's POV:**

* * *

After a well-earned rest, I get up and do all of my normal morning activities. When those are finished, I get back into my fancy blue and black robes and leave the guest chamber.

I have already accepted that I will need to be patient during my time here and endure all the possible jabs and insults at me. Lucky for me, I've thought about it this morning and realized that maybe I'm being too cautious. I've already got my story set, so aside from being paranoid about mind-readers and bugging charms, I can act however I want and the staff at Hogwarts can't do anything about it.

I continue my trek in the castle, occasionally asking a ghost like the Bloody Baron advice on where to go or glower at a portrait full of people talking about me behind my backs. The portraits gulp in fear at my glare, and as for the ghosts…I will need to ensure that all of them are removed from this place in the distant future.

My thoughts are cut short when I turn another corner in this overly-large maze and meet Dumbledore, standing between 2 stone braziers and in front of a tall statue of an open-beaked bird. Knowing Dumbledore, it's most likely a phoenix. "You're an early riser, Mr. Peverell. Please, wait a second." The old man says, then turns to the statue. "Sherbert Lemon." He adds.

Within seconds, the statue starts spiraling upwards, producing a spiral staircase. The Headmaster then proceeds to climb up the staircase, with me following closely behind. At the top is a small corridor with 2 more braziers, these ones alight, and a wooden door in the center. Swishing his wand, Dumbledore opens the door and ushers me inside. His office, despite all the silvery contraptions and shelves of who-knows-what, it is actually well-organized. Standing near the desk is Minerva McGonagall.

"Now, Mr. Peverell. Before you go to breakfast and start classes, I would like to give you some of the school's spare supplies. Because of your age, you will be put into the 6th year classes. Professor McGonagall." His Deputy nods and also waves her wand. A whole stack of thick textbooks and a set of robes, with a dark blue tie and my name written in gold letters, the same ones every other Ravenclaw in Hogwarts. I already know that nothing I say will change Dumbledore's or McGonagall's mind on the matter, so why fight a pointless battle when I can fight and win in other ways?

"Alright. I'll do it." I respond dryly, but have no defeat on my face as a way to show him up a little. Taking the robes and textbooks, I walk out of the Headmaster's office. The second I leave the office, I make my way back to the guest rooms, muttering how I would kill Dumbledore in ways that would make Herpo the Foul himself cringe in fear. Once there, I shut the door and start getting changed into my uniform. As I do so, I curse even more fiercely than before. These guys can't get any exercise done with these heavy, constricting robes. I'm not even going to go in detail on how stereotypical the robes are, since I'm even more displeased with the fact my favorite color's dark blue, and I can only wear a dark blue tie.

Heaving a sigh of frustration, I once again leave my room and using my anger as fuel, I use the Dark Side and I let out a sigh of relief, embracing the darkness. Feeling better, I put all my pre-owned texts into the satchel, which I emptied of my contents except my lightsaber still disguised as a wand and once again make my way to the Great Hall for breakfast. Students are slowly trickling into the Great Hall already to eat the breakfast which has already been laid out on the table. I swear, it's a miracle the wizards here aren't bloated from gorging themselves with the sheer amount of food here.

I make my way to the Ravenclaw table and help myself to a few pieces of French toast and some scrambled eggs. Not too light but not too heavy. However, once breakfast is finished, I have to make my way to 6th year classes for the day. I was given the weekly schedule sheet by McGonagall after breakfast so I know where I'm going.

In summary, they are absolutely annoying in one way or another. For the impractical classes, I just lean back in my chair and do absolutely nothing, but for some classes, I discovered that even though the Force can take me so far, some classes require the boost wands give to make them possible. But for when I do not pass up, I just throw up a Force illusion to make everyone think I'm doing great and trying hard when in reality, I don't give 2 craps about the lessons.

Except for 1 revelation I discovered while scanning the minds of several other students out of boredom in History of Magic. Wands are similar to drugs. When one uses a wand, they give that person a burst of energy that is addicting beyond belief. But as they use it more and more, they become increasing dependent on their wand, so when they do stop using it, it's much harder to pull everything back together and the wand calls you, tempts the person to be dependent on it. That is why finding Force-users who find a balance between Force use and wand use, like Morgana, are the truly great figures.

After the surprisingly dull 1st day, the 2nd day is much more entertaining. I get up, throw on my school robes and make my way to breakfast. However, as I reach the Great Hall, a group of 3 younger Gryffindors start walking towards me. I mentally sneer when I see it's my spoiled younger sister Hailey, flanked by Ronald Weasley and Hermione Granger. "Hello Hailey." I respond coldly as they continue approaching.

"Where were you? And don't treat me like that; I'm your sister." Hailey responds sharply, glaring at me with her dark brown eyes hidden behind her glasses.

"Sister? I haven't been with your family for years." I argue back, holding back a growl of frustration.

"How can you be so selfish? I defeated the Dark Lord and we returned to a happy family until you decided to run away. You left mom and dad a wreck for years." Hailey responds angrily, her face starting to turn the color of her dark red streaks. It's actually quite amusing to watch, despite what she said to my face.

"Sabes qué? Va echar un polvo." I respond, throwing out the bait; learning a language really does help one become more attuned with culture. When Dumbledore or his lackeys use my slipups to try and figure out more about my past, I will just be sending them on a wild goose chase. If Dumbledore or his followers actually died in Spain or wandering the Mexican desert and suffering from heat exhaustion, that's an even greater bonus. But I can't count on that.

"What language was that?" Ron demands, staring at me with complete confusion.

I am honestly surprised that Ron even knew I spoke another language. I'll have to investigate that later; maybe I was wrong about the youngest Weasley brother being completely brain-dead. "Espanol. No tan todopoderoso ahora, esta?" I answer. It's really starting to make my day, seeing Ron and Hailey going red in the face with frustration as they try in vain to understand me.

"You're speaking Spanish." Hermione exclaims, pointing at me. "I don't know what you're saying, but you should treat Hailey with more respect. Every person in our society agrees that she defeated You-Know-Who. You owe your life to her."

"I'm done talking with you. Leave me and go back to your precious Lion's den. If not, you will not like it." I snarl back, my patience finally cracking. Hailey looks like she wants to continue longer, but with a subtle push from the Force, she shuts her mouth and walks back to the table farthest from me. With another dose of Force persuasion, Ron and Hermione follow closely behind Hailey. Out of the corner of my eye, I notice Dumbledore coming into the Great Hall, staring at me with interest. My bait has been cast; now let's see how disciplined Dumbledore really is.

"Well, that went well." A slightly cold, familiar voice said. I look to my right and see a young woman I haven't seen since the day I left Potter Manor when I was 7 years old. Daphne Greengrass's snow white hair has grown out, falling past her shoulders. She is currently sitting on the right side of the long wooden table closest to me, so it must be the Slytherin table. Daphne being in Slytherin doesn't surprise me in the slightest. Then I get an idea that if it succeeds will either benefit me greatly.

"Indeed. Do you mind if we talk somewhere more private?" I ask, not wanting my 1st personal conversation with an old friend being screwed up by Dumbledore or any of his lackeys. She nods and we walk towards the alcove where a waiting room is. Using the Force, I close the door behind us. "It's been too long, Daphne." I said, turning to face her again. I have to admit, she does look good.

"It has. But how did you do what you just did? You closed that door without the use of a wand?" Daphne asks, looking at me with shock and a touch of suspicion.

So Daphne's constantly aware of her surroundings and taking nothing for granted. Right now, she's passing. "I was able to do it using a trick I learned during my long absence. Put it simply, I learned how to use magic with and without a wand. While a wand gives short-term focus on magic, it makes you dependent on the power source." I explain casually.

Her crystal blue eyes widen in shock as a look of revelation is on her face. "Of course. That's why wandless magic is so hard to do. What did you have to do to learn that?"

I lower my face and put up a sad face. "I learned it from some outlaw American wizards who were expelled from Ilvermorny, the American wizarding school. They learned how to use magic without wands and became mercenaries. I joined them after leaving a Scandinavian cult after they asked me to join them. Needless to say, they just lost appeal to me."

As I expected, Daphne looks shocked at hearing my cover story. When she hears my real story, I would bet money that she would faint when she first hears it. "That's why very few people can do wandless magic…I don't care that you just came back after years of absence, can I ask you a favor?"

"Name it." I answer, admiring her firm will and deep desire for knowledge, even if she must blackmail it out of them. She's quickly proving herself worthy of being my 1st recruit.

"It's got to do with my younger sister. When she arrived at Hogwarts, my parents were approached by Lord Lucius Malfoy. He threatened my parents, telling me that if we gave any form of support to the Potter family, he will ensure that something terrible happens to Astoria. Ever since she came here, Lucius's son Draco has been watching her closely, even though I have heard he too is in a marriage contract. With Pansy Parkinson to keep the respective bloodlines 'pure.' I fear for Astoria, so all I ask is to teach me how to do wandless magic so I can protect her from Draco." By this point, tears are starting to form in her eyes.

For some reason, seeing her saddened about her sister's sticky situation makes me feel a little sorry for her deep down, but I am also ecstatic about this. I have found my chink and now I have to ensure that in exchange for helping her, she will work for me as a Sith. "I will grant your wish, Daphne. But there is a system of order for it to happen. To follow that system, you must swear your allegiance to me. Now, do you take me as your master?"

"Yes, my master." Daphne said, bowing to me. Smiling, I lift my hand and channel the Dark Side into it. Looking curious about my actions, she stands up and takes my hand. Suddenly, she cringes as the Dark Side circles around her. Within seconds, the darkness dissipates. "What did you do to me?" She asks, suspicion practically dripping from her voice.

"That was a touch of my own power, to make your training easier. But to keep up appearances, do not call me 'master' in public. Soon, I promise to start your training." With that, we leave the waiting room and go our separate ways. Once breakfast is finished up, I go to classes once again. The classes are dull as usual until Defense Against the Dark Arts comes around.

I have got to be honest; As a Sith who aspires to becoming a Darth, I can't help but feel interested about what is being taught in those walls. Once the class gets settled, the new professor by the name of Mad-Eye Moody starts talking about constant vigilance and the 3 Unforgivable Curses. I don't pay attention to his lesson, but instead focus on using the Force to break into the minds of the fellow 6th years. Admittedly, some of their minds have valuable information regarding workings at the Ministry of Magic they heard from their parents, wizarding etiquettes and hatreds hidden deep in their hearts. The void between the Muggleborn/Pureblood groups are so strong, it can easily be turned to my favor. Easily the most fascinating mind of all is Moody's. Turns out he isn't Moody at all, but instead Barty Crouch Jr., ordered by his master, Lord Voldemort himself, to try and use me for his resurrection. My burning rage at learning that is held back, but only just.

"Potter." Crouch snaps, staring at me as I pull out of his mind.

"Why are you looking at me if you're asking for a Potter?" I ask, almost mockingly.

"Pott- I'm sorry, Peverell. I want you to come forward. I am demonstrating the Imperious Curse." Rolling my eyes, I stand up and walk to Fake Moody's desk.

"OK, then. Show me what you're made of." I said, fighting the urge to grin. I can sense Faker's frustration starting to roll off him.

"Be vigilant then. Imperio!" He shouts, waving his wand at me. I can sense his mind trying to break into my own, trying to bend me to his will. But using my fury at Faker, I shatter the attempt at mind control. Like Thomas in the _Maze Runner_ books, I have been stoking my rage, honing it into a weapon that when unleashed upon the world, all of my enemies will beg for mercy, wishing they would be dead.

Moody recoils a little from the outburst of the Force. To his credit, he actually manages a smile. "Congratulations, Mr. Peverell. You managed to throw off the Imperious on your 1st try. Next student, come forward." On and on it goes, with the rest of my classmates trying and failing miserably to resist.

Fortunately, I don't have to wait long for the bell to ring before I get my homework assignment and run out of the room, planning on doing my homework in my bedroom. Sort of. After peaking into the minds of my classmates, I already know how to do it, so it's now just a game of Copy and Paste. For extra homework and the like, don't even bother trying to get me to do that. My somewhat happy attitude is punctured when I notice a small group of 4th year stands standing in the middle of the courtyard, snickering at something as they pass around some kind of badges in a box. The suspicious part: Draco Malfoy is in the crowd, looking smug with himself. Then he notices me.

"Hey, Peverell. Check these out." Draco calls, showing off the bright red badge saying 'Support Diggory: The Real Hogwarts Champion' on the right side of his uniform. But then he spins it and it changes to a green badge showing my face and outright saying 'Peverell Stinks.' That left me in disbelief. This is the boy that has left Daphne worried? Deciding that now's the best chance to do so, I quickly break into his mind just to see if he's really this shallow.

What I find in that mind is just as interesting as what I found in Faker's head. Draco has no knowledge of his contract to Pansy Parkinson, which also means he didn't give his consent to it, like Fleur did for our contract. As for his father…his loyalty to the Malfoy Lord and the 'pureblood' customs are strong, so strong that he can't efficiently compose the thoughts needed to be a part of my Empire. After scanning the mind of a 6th year Ravenclaw in my class, I learned that only 1 thing is capable of doing this: Loyalty charms.

Maybe I will remove those charms and see if he's worth anything to me or not. Having nothing more to do in his head anymore, I pull out. Then I stare at the stupid badges on the Slytherins and I feel anger bursting through me again. Using the Force, I pull all the badges into my open hand. "You want to know what I think of your badges?" With another lick of power, I set the entire bunch of badges on fire. Flipping my hand, I drop the still-smoldering ashes to the ground and stomp on them. "That's what." I then turn around and walk away, leaving behind several gawking Slytherins.

Seeing that I won't be able to make it back to my guest room without being harassed by some other group of witches or wizards, I make my way to the library. Who knows, maybe even the Beauxbatons or Durmstrang students will join in if I piss off enough people. The walk there is surprisingly quiet. As I enter the library, I can already tell that the true ruler of this place is silence. Rows upon rows line the shelves on either side of me, containing vast bases of knowledge for the Wizarding World. Walking to the very back of the library, right before the entrance of the Restricted Section. Settling myself into a chair next to a table, I pull out some parchment, the most archaic writing utensil of all times: A quill ink, and get to work. Seriously, though, why the hell aren't pens being used?

As I am wrapping up copying the homework assignments onto my parchment, I feel a presence approaching. When I register who it is through the Force, I mentally groan in frustration. But it's already too late.

"Arry!" Fleur Delacour says, happiness in her heavily French-accented voice as she comes into my view and sits down at the table I'm working at. "Eet's so good to see you again."

"It's good to see you too." I respond, faking a smile. I have to admit, Fleur really is good-looking, but I think I prefer Daphne…wait, what just went through my head?

Fleur's face then turns solemn. "Ah just wanted to say I'm sorry about our forced marriage. We were all so worried for your safety."

I freeze for a second, surprised to hear an apology of all things. Judging by the 'we', it's really just her. I mean, I think she is genuine, but my parents and probably her parents set this nightmare up with ulterior motives in mind. "Oh, thank you for that. So what have you been up to in the last few years?" I ask, not wanting to be interrogated and risking accidentally slipping up on something.

Fleur's face brightens up and she goes into a long-winded explanation about all the vacations she's had with her family, what places I would have liked and the different Wizarding communities she's been to with her father, along with some new spells she learned in those communities. It was truly fascinating to listen to; not to mention it was a real eye-opener. Fleur knew several wizarding tricks not typically taught in her nation's school, so she should not be under-estimated if I have to fight her. If it comes down to it, I could hear in her voice the adoration Fleur has for her younger sister, Gabrielle. I would exploit her in 1 way or another, use it to blackmail Fleur into doing me 'favors.'

"Well, that's enough about me. Where 'ave _you_ been?" Fleur asks, staring at me intently.

I mentally wince. Looks like I'll need to use some serious acting skills to pull out of this one. "Many, many places. Scandinavia, Greece, Spain, North America, Brazil, I've honestly lost track of everywhere I've been at the moment. I used to hang out with a rather dangerous crowd, who traveled to where the most grossing contracts were present. This was before I decided to leave them and return to a somewhat normal life."

"Ah see." Fleur responds. Then she blushes a little in embarrassment. "Look, Ah know we are forced to be together after this, but can we at least try to make it work?"

I give a small smile. "Of course. But we can discuss the details for all that at a later time." I can only hope she will leave me alone soon.

"Of course. Well, it was nice to see you again, Arry." She says, standing up and giving me a warm smile before leaving. I stare at her with a look of surprise. I'm starting to believe she likes me so much she doesn't even have the heart to use her Veela charm on me the way she would on other boys. Thinking of which, that kind of charm would definitely send Jedi, especially the male ones, plummeting to their doom if I can get a Veela as a Sith.

Once I go over all my homework and make sure it's in the proper order so I can at least try and pass the classes, I stand up. But as I am about to leave the library, I stop. The Dark Side is screaming at me, encouraging me to enter the Restricted Section of the library. Wondering why the Dark Side would send me there of all places, I make my way to the Restricted Section's door. Bending the Dark Side around me so that wrinkled old bat-woman, Madame Pince, doesn't try and stop me, I open the doors and enter the Restricted Section.

The second I step foot in this section, I stop. All the saturated knowledge and darkness filling these shelves are pleasant. A Sith could thrive for decades here, reading all this knowledge of the most forbidden arts of magic. Following the Force's guidance, I walk deeper and deeper into the library. The intoxicating darkness bound to this section only gets stronger and stronger the farther I go. Soon, I reach the very back of the Restricted Section, the place where the darkness is thickest. I delve back into the Force, asking it where I should go. The Dark Side then guides me to the right shelf, on the 2nd row in the middle. A book titled 'Magick Moste Evile' is there, bound to the shelf by enchanted chains. But even more magic is surrounding it, as if someone didn't want anyone else in the world to know what it truly is. Now completely interested in this book, I use the Dark Side to rip the book off the shelf and use it to rip the concealing charms off.

The book starts to change before my very eyes, becoming larger and heavier. From 'Magick Moste Evile,' it becomes 'Secrets of the Darkest Art.' It is a black leather bound book with the title in bold white letters, with strange purple decorations around it, 2 crosses that look oddly like the Knights Templar's symbol directly above and below the title and what looks like ancient text surrounding the center, but kept inside the purple decoration. On the bottom, the name Owle Bullock is written; a Dark Wizard who no doubt is the author.

If the Dark Side of the Force wanted me to find this book, there must be something worth reading in here. Putting the book in my bag, I walk out of the Restricted Section and sneak out of it. After I close the door and make my out of the library, I let out a sigh of relief. Turning left, I walk down the hall to the Great Hall to dinner. After a surprisingly quiet meal, despite some fearful looks sent my direction, I return to my common room.

Heaving another sigh, I set my book bag next to the bed and lay back on my bed, staring up at the ceiling. I get back up again and get into my pajamas before crawling back under my freshly-made covers. Maybe that brown-nosing girl, Hermione Granger, has a point about House Elves. Word of her SPEW group and their purpose has already reached my ears. While she's going about it the wrong way, promoting equality is a surprisingly open-minded thing of her to do.

Once I'm settled in bed, I use the Force to pull the 'Secrets of the Darkest Art' book into my outstretched arms and open it to the beginning and start reading. As I read more and more pages, I now understand why the Dark Side wants me to read it and grin wickedly at the thoughts of all the chaos I could create and truly diabolical Sith techniques I could invent, all originating from this one book.

The rest of the month comes and goes without much hassle or arguments. Well, I do occasionally have to subtly taunt Hailey since that's fun and telling the students who try and bully me some really foul language in perfect Spanish is absolutely hysterical. A few other major things happened in the month I've been trapped here at Hogwarts. I talked with some other old friends, such as Neville Longbottom, and the Weasley twins Fred and George, I even started to 'befriend' Fleur by having short but meaningful talks. Hey, if I want her to slip up some time, I need to get on her good side first. In addition I secretly started Daphne's training; thus far, she's just learning several dueling skills and some basic Force techniques like meditation and levitating. Let me tell you, she's quickly getting the hang of it. But most importantly of all, I read the entirety of 'Secrets of the Darkest Art.' It is full to the brim of evil tricks that make me shiver in pleasure, trying to imagine them without doing them. The section that interests me the most are Horcruxes and their making. I'll need to think hard on if I should go that path, and find proof that such a thing can truly be done. It's that unbelievable.

Time passes before I open my eyes and remembering what today is, I grin wickedly again. Today is the day where I can show the Wizarding World what I'm made of: November 24th, the day of the Tri-Wizard Tournament's First Task.

* * *

 _AN:_ Admit it, you want to see the epic action sequences of Harrison's future battles. I want to write those chapters just as much, so I sped up the process and gave you all a major time skip on what happens before the first task.

As for why Halo the Bitter Wars has no update this week, let me explain. I have had no spring break this week so I've been doing extra-long school sessions and on the day I normally proof read my chapters, I had a 56-mile bike recon bike ride. So in summary, I have had literally no time to write both chapters this week.

Well, see you next time when the Potters come to watch Harrison Peverell perform in the First Task.

Later, all.

PS: I don't really speak Spanish at all. I saw Monty Python and the Holy Grail again recently, so I thought having a taunter speaking in a language no one understands would be funny to write about.


	8. Chapter 8: The First Task

**November 24** **th**

 **1994**

 **7:30 am Earth time**

 **Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry**

 **Scotland**

 **Earth**

* * *

 **Hailey Potter's POV:**

* * *

My eyes flutter open and I stare up at the ceiling of the Gryffindor 4th year's girl dormitory, remembering what will happen today.

Today is the day of the 1st Task; the day my "brother" will be showing us what he can do. Whenever I try and "talk" to him, I would tough around him, hoping to provoke an emotional response and have him accidentally spill some hint as to what he's truly up to. I may be loved by most of Hogwarts and do deserve it, I'm also not an idiot like the rest of the students were about the Chamber of Secrets incident years ago.

Ever since Harry, who now only goes by Harrison Peverell, arrived at this school, I have had this weird feeling of doom at the back of my mind. It's like some terrible fire is about to burn not just Wizarding Britain, but annihilate the entire Wizarding World and there's nothing I can do to stop it. So yes, I've been pretty paranoid lately, watching for anything out of the ordinary.

For that reason, I've been seeing all sorts of weird things. My brother's habit of saying things randomly in Spanish is certainly odd. Whatever he's saying, I am certain that they are far from compliments. But additionally, Daphne Greengrass has been acting even stranger as of late. I've seen her sneaking off after dinner instead of going with the rest of her bigoted Slytherin mates like she's done in the past. In fact, I've rarely seen her hang out with that pug-faced Slytherin girl Pansy Parkinson, and in the classes we're attending together, I can't help but notice she doesn't seem to be putting in the effort of using a wand like she once did.

I can't worry about that at this very moment. As quickly as possible, I get on my Hogwarts robes and make my way down to the Great Hall for breakfast with my best friends, Ron and Hermione. We make our way to the hall for a much-needed breakfast. Already in the Great Hall not taking advantage of the sheer variety of breakfast foods as usual is Harrison over at the Ravenclaw table. I always remembered him for burying his nose in a book when he was around 6 or so, so Ravenclaw does suit him. Still, I still get the feeling he's not what he seems. Watching him warily, I eat all I can at the Gryffindor table. When that is finished, my friends and I make our way back to today's classes. Time seems to act strangely today for it feels like in one moment, I was going to fall asleep to Binn's History of Magic lesson, the next moment, I am returning to the Great Hall for lunch.

As I sit down to eat lunch, the Hall is filled to the brim with chatter about the First Task. What it will be, bets on who will do best, stuff like that. I didn't take part in any of that, since all I want to do is watch and that I don't want to test my skill at gambling. Professor McGonagall appears and walks over to the Ravenclaw table. "Mr. Peverell, the Champions are being asked to perform in the Weighing of the Wands. Please follow me." She says crisply.

He has a blank look on his face that I can't read before he nods and agreement, standing up and following our Deputy Headmistress as they leave the Great Hall. After several minutes of silence, we all stand up and are herded out as well. We all leave the Great Hall and make our way towards the field where I play Quidditch as the Gryffindor team's Seeker like my father was.

Instead of the Quidditch field I am accustomed to seeing, there is an enormous wooden stadium forming a circle, jagged rocks jutting out in all directions as the student body makes its way toward the stadium. When we get there, everyone starts spreading out to fill up the seats. Ron and Hermione make their way inside and I am about to follow them when I hear a very familiar voice say to me, "Hey Hailey. It's been a while."

I whirl to my right and standing there are both my parents, smiling at me widely. "Mum! Dad!" I shout, my wariness dropping immediately as I run over to embrace both of them. They hug me back then let me go.

"How are you doing here? Keeping up with your studies, I hope?" Mum asks me, staring at me accusingly.

I laugh a little at that. "No, I'm doing just fine in school. But a lot of weird things have been happening this year."

When Dad hears that, he grins widely. "What kinds of things? Are you starting to understand that everyone needs a good pranking once in a while?"

"James!" Lily exclaims, elbowing her husband.

My smile fades a little when I start to remember the last month. "No, nothing like that. The Tri-Wizard Tournament is certainly new, but Harrison's coming…"

My parents also lower their heads ever-so-slightly, solemn looks on their faces. "He's actually the reason why we took time off work so we could be here. So we can see you again and talk to him and try to fix what we broke long ago." Lily says, still looking bitter.

"Come on. Let's grab a seat before all the good seats are gone." James responds, leading me and Mum into the stadium, up the winding wooden staircases to the bleachers. Most of the seats are already occupied by Hogwarts students and the foreign students. Making our way through the filled bleachers, we sit down at the only bleachers in the front row, which are facing directly in front of a long, dark tunnel of sorts. I think the 4 Champions are inside that entrance, wherever it leads. Over the next 20 minutes, the last group of people who haven't been seated start settling down. To my displeasure, that bloody git Draco Malfoy sits to my right a few seats away (judging by my parents' faces, they are equally displeased) and the judges, comprised of all 3 Headmasters and Headmistress, Ludo Bagman and Barty Crouch Snr. take their places at another stand, elegant chairs behind them. For some reason, the headmasters look rather confused about something.

But the wait yields itself to the growing excitement, which is halted when a rather portly man by the name of Ludo Bagman steps forward, pointing his wand to his throat. Then he speaks in a loud, booming voice that carries throughout the stadium.

"Ladies and gentlemen! I give you, the greatest, the fabulous, the one and only Tri-Wizard Tournament!" Thunderous applause break out at the announcement, to which me and my parents take part in. Then he waves his wand and a silver whistle flies into his hand and continues after the noise quiets down. "In a few minutes, the Champions will partake in the 1st of many great endeavors. Today, our 4 champions will be tasked with collecting the Golden Egg from their guardians, a vicious dragon!"

Wait…hold on a second. Did he just say the champions will have to face DRAGONS? I know the tournaments supposed to be infamous for its danger and all, but don't they think that's going a little too far? But others don't share my opinion since the applause starts up again, which my parents joining in again. I don't, however; such is my shock at hearing about the dragons. As the audience quiets down again, they watch as numerous wizards run out to lay out a nest full of dragon's eggs, with a gleaming golden one in the center. After the wizards make to safety, they release the dragon known as the Swedish Short-Snout after ensuring the chains keeping her on the ground are solid. The enormous dragon with silvery-blue scales stomps over to the nest and stares at the opening doors. Bagman raises his whistle and blows it shrilly. From out of the entrance, dressed in a special sort of robes I haven't seen before, steps out Cedric Diggory. I have to say, he looks really handsome in those robes. The second the dragon notices Cedric, she roars in challenge, starting Cedric's task.

Cedric dodges the dragon as it breathes bright blue flames at the spot where Cedric once stood. Poking his head out from behind his cover and wand in hand, Cedric starts waving his wand in complex motions. My eyes widen as I realize he's trying to do transfiguration. But what is going to change? In that moment, Cedric completes the motion and points his wand at a rock, where a small beam of magic shoots out. When the stream of magic strikes the rock, it starts changing into a…small, white dog? Has Cedric lost his mind? But then I realize what he is going for, and it actually works considering the fact that the Swedish Short-Snout turns its attention away from the Hogwarts Champion and starts running to the now-retreating dog, allowing Cedric to run out from behind his cover and start running like his life depends on it towards the dragon's nest. Bagman even exclaims, "Oh, I never would have thought of that!" At the last minute, however, the dragon notices Cedric again and loses interest in the dog it's chasing after. Rearing its enormous head around, the Swedish dragon breathes the blue fire at Cedric again. We all gasp in suspense as Cedric lunges forward, grabbing the Golden Egg without damaging any other eggs in the process, and lands into the miniature canyon beyond the nest. Sadly, for Cedric, he couldn't get away without suffering from severe burns. "Ladies and Gentlemen! Cedric Diggory has completed the First Task! Oh my, the rest of the Champions will have to struggle to top that." Ludo announces to the crowd as it roars in applause, the Dragonskeepers running out to start forcing the Swedish Short-snout back into the cage it came from. The dragon's nest is collected and Cedric is hauled off on an enchanted stretcher to get his burns patched up.

"I'll say. That was a really creative way to use transfiguration. Under the pressure, it could have gone horribly." Lily states, eyes wide with excitement. I have to admit, I'm starting to get into this tournament as well.

While the field is emptied again and a new dragon's nest is set up, filled with earthly brown and green eggs this time, the judges give their scores. Aside from Karkaroff, Cedric receives a high score. a whole new dragon is released after the Dragonskeepers get themselves to safety and make sure the chain is safely keeping her bound. According to some books I briefly read in the library at Hogwarts in my 1st year to help Rubeus Hagrid the Gameskeeper out, this dragon is a Common Welsh Green. Unlike the Swedish dragon, this dragon is less scaly and dark green. Once the dragon gets settled, Ludo blows his silver whistle again. From out of the entrance comes Harrison's fiancée, Fleur Delacour. She walks out with a look of confidence, but after being around people who are skilled with keeping straight faces for years, I can tell she's extremely nervous about facing a dragon alone, stared at my hundreds of people. I can't really blame her for being afraid in this situation. Feeling a little bolder than Cedric, she decides to start running at the Welsh Green. The dragon, seeing Fleur as a threat to the dragon's eggs, letting loose a strangely melodious roar in challenge. Fleur, however, raises her wand to the dragon. A long beam of light stretches out from her wand and strikes the dragon's head. To my amazement, the dragon starts swaying its head side to side, its eyes growing heavy, before the dragon collapses to the ground without crushing any of its eggs and starts snoring loudly. Who knew dragons snored? Realizing that a sleeping spell will most likely not last long against her opponent, Fleur starts running towards the nest, weaving her way through the jagged rocks and up to the nest. Suddenly, the sleeping dragon lets out an even louder snore and with it comes a jet of fire. Fleur curses in French and waves her wand again. This time, she uses an Aquamenti Maxima spell since a burst of water shoots out of her wand tip. The fire and water collide with each other in mid-air, stopping them in place and producing a torrent of steam which rises into the air. But one ember makes it through and catches on the tip of her robes. She stomps it out quickly and grabs the Golden Egg.

Numerous people start cheering loudly for the French champion as she is also hauled off to the medical tent and the dragon is dragged off by the Dragonskeepers and the nest is retrieved. Once again, the judges give their respective scores and it's obvious they didn't like her performance all that much since her total score's way lower than Cedric's. But Fleur held her own in a daunting challenge, so there's that. If I was in the tournament, I would have just summoned my Firebolt broomstick and flown around to keep myself out of the dragon's reach long enough for me to fetch the egg unharmed.

"That was…an interesting." James states, leaning back in his seat.

After a few silent minutes, the Dragonskeepers finish laying out a 3rd nest, filled with a 3rd Golden Egg and crimson eggs specked with gold. As a Gryffindor, I think they look really cool. A 3rd cage opens up and out comes a crimson dragon that's 25 feet easily, with a spiked tail and golden horns on top of its head. This dragon looks much more dangerous than the 1st 2 I've seen today. "A Chinese Fireball…" Mum whispers, awe in her voice.

For the 3rd time that day, Ludo blows his silver whistle. From out of the same opening the last 2 Champions came from emerges the famous Quidditch Seeker, Victor Krum. Unlike the last 2 Champions, he actually starts running towards his dragon opponent. The Fireball, just as eager to fight, stands its ground instead of charging at Victor, but does open its mouth to shoot a ball of fire at Victor, only for the Bulgarian champion to jump to the left, dodging the explosion of flames. "Well, now you know where the name came from, Lils." Dad says to Mum, smiling widely. Victor stands up again, pointing his wand at the Chinese dragon's eye. "Conjunctivis!" Victor bellows, a large spell shooting out of his wand tip and striking the Chinese Fireball, but the dragon pulls his head up so the spell strikes its chest. The dragon's scales resist the spell, forcing it to dissipate.

"My word! Victor Krum's trying to cast a spell on the dragon! I don't know if I would do that." Bagman remarks to the crowd as they watch the match with rapt, almost hypnotic attention. Krum is smarter about his next move, trying his spell again while the dragon's moving in a predictable way. This time, his spell actually hits true, striking the dragon in the eye. It roars in fury, stomping around wildly as it tries to shake off the spell's effect. As the dragon is stomping around, it starts getting closer and closer to the nest before the Chinese Fireball crushes 2 of its own eggs. While the dragon is flailing around, Krum runs up the middle to grab the Golden Egg without any more interference from the dragon. Once again, everyone cheers wildly, even going as far as chanting his name. Victor is escorted off the arena while the Dragon is being restrained by its keepers. As the process starts up all over again, the judges use their wands to cast their scores. Unsurprisingly, Karkaroff gives his student a 10 out of pure bias. But the other judges aren't as kind with the scoring, docking him considerably for causing damage to the dragon eggs. Overall, he got a higher score than Fleur, but still less than Cedric.

This time, Dumbledore stands up. "I give congratulations to our 3 champions, who have faced their dragons, and who will proceed to the next task. Now, for the 4th and final champion!" My parents and I are the loudest people cheering for Dumbledore as the final nest is rapidly laid out. This time, the Golden egg is sitting inside a ring of eggs that are colored like cement and the 4th dragon is released from its cage. However, I have no idea what kind of dragon this is, but it looks right-out nasty. This dragon, no doubt 50 feet long, is more lizard-like than the others with piercing yellow eyes, a jagged tail and black horns on its head. "What is that?" I ask my parents. They are staring at the dragon, roaring in protest at the chain around its neck, with expressions that are a mix of awe and slight fear.

"A Hungarian Horntail." Dad tells me, a shocked expression still on his face. "I've heard stories about what this breed of dragon can do, and I can say without a doubt that it's the most dangerous dragon yet. I don't know how Harry's going to pull through."

I gulp a little, thinking that it must be ferocious if it makes Dad nervous! For the 4th time, the former Quidditch player blows his whistle. Right on que, Harrison Peverell steps out with a walk that shows off his confidence.

"James, it's him." Mum says, her expression now reflecting happiness and sadness as she sees her son's hardened face, his hardened features. James just nods silently, staring at the arena with deep interest and a bitter look. Even after all these years, they still grieve about pushing him away the way they did without even realizing it. Harrison walks forward, staring into the Horntail's face as if he wasn't scared in the slightest.

"You know, you could turn around, get revenge on the ones who chained you up, and you might make it out of here today without injury." Harrison offers in a voice that carries around the stadium, staring at his fingernails with a look of boredom.

Hold on a second! Is he threatening a dragon, and from what I heard, the most ferocious of all the champion's? Judging by the dumbstruck looks on every single person's face, they are having similar thoughts. The Hungarian Horntail, however, has no interest in doing what Harrison suggested. It roars loudly, spreading its absurdly long wings and throwing a wave of fire at Harrison. He doesn't even try to dodge out of the way, just stands there as the flames consume him. "What is he bloody thinking?" James exclaims, staring at the arena with a look of even greater shock than I've ever seen on his face. The crowd gasps in shock at the spectacle which rages on for a few seconds longer. When the Hungarian Horntail stops breathing flames, thinking Harrison is burnt to a crisp. But to everyone's amazement, Harrison is still standing there, holding out his wand out in front of his face. When he lowers his wand, I get a really good look at his face. I gasp in shock because for a single moment, his skin is much paler than before, his hair is somehow blacker, but the part that stands out are his volcanic-colored eyes. When I blink, the changes are gone and Harrison's back to normal.

"What is it?" Mum asks, concerned.

I stare up at her in shock. How could she not have noticed Harrison changing the way he did? Then again, it was so fast even I am doubting what I just saw. For now, I need to downplay it. "Just…stunned at he managed to block dragon fire."

Mum looks at me with a look of curiosity, but before she can ask what's on my mind, Harrison speaks again, "That was your last mistake. Prepare yourself, for you are about to hurt." He then taps his wand at a large, particularly jagged piece of rock. The piece of rock starts transfiguring while Harrison sheathes his wand. The rock starts transforming before our very eyes, becoming slimmer and sharper until it's changed into the last thing I thought he would do. The scythe handle is easily 5 feet long, sticking up into the air while the absurdly-large pointed end that curves down to the point where the scythe's blade tip is embedded in the ground.

Judging by Harrison's face, he looks equally surprised by the scythe, but grins like Dad would after telling about a particularly funny prank he pulled while in school while grabbing the scythe with both his hands and ripping it out of the ground, facing his dragon opponent again.

"Well, ladies and gentlemen. This is a most exciting twist. Harrison Peverell is actually going to fight the Hungarian Horntail!" Ludo Bagman shouts to the stunned crowd. Then Harrison starts running as fast as he can towards the Horntail, the scythe out in front of him. The dragon, however, isn't backing down as it roars loudly and shoots another wave of fire. My brother, however, uses agility I have never seen before, sticking his scythe tip into the ground and uses momentum to fling himself and his new weapon into the air, soaring above the dragon's flames. As the Hungarian dragon brings its head up to breath fire on Harrison, my brother gets much close and performs another deed I never expected. He lifts the scythe above his head and stabs it into the Horntail's right eye. The dragon stops breathing fire, bellowing in agony as it wobbles farther and farther from Harrison and ultimately the nest, trying to shake off the stone weapon that is now deeply impaled into its eye. The wound is so deep, blood is already falling from the wound to the ground, forming large puddles on the ground. I can't believe I'm thinking this, but I actually feel sorry for a 50-feet long wizard killer.

Deciding that its best not to linger, Harrison runs to the nest and grabs the Golden Egg, raising it into the air for all to see. Aside from the dragon rolling along the ground, roaring in pain and tangling itself in the chain it's bound to, the entire wizard population is silent. Then most of the people in stadium, aside from the judges, me and my parents, start cheering for my older brother, even whistling and going as far as to chant 'Peverell! Peverell! Peverell!' while the Hungarian Horntail is stunned by the Dragonskeepers so she can be safely hauled off

"I…What has he been through to think of doing this?" Mum asks, horrified.

I continue to stare at Harrison, who is now openly smiling at the crowd. But I still remember that weird sight and I make a vow. I will need subtly, even going as far as to 'befriend' him, but I will find out what is really going on.

* * *

 _AN:_ So yeah, the First Task. This is probably my least favorite action sequence in this story, so I assure you, it will get much better.

As for Harrison wielding a scythe, I thought that would be a nice twist and since Harrison likes to get up close and personal most of the time, it would be appropriate. Speaking of which, the scythe and heavy weapon style becoming a bigger emphasis on Harrison's fighting style sounds like a good idea. Then he could be a scythe-wielder who would give Ruby Rose and Qrow Branwen a run for their money. Let me see how that would work out.

Next time, see the reactions to the First Task, more recruits for Harrison's Sith Empire, and much more!

See you then.


	9. Chapter 9: The Aftermath

**November 24** **th**

 **1994**

 **12:55 pm Earth time**

 **Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry**

 **Scotland**

 **Earth**

* * *

 **Harrison Peverell's POV:**

* * *

I stare at the stands as most of the witches and wizards start chanting my name for putting on a show rivaled only by the Roman's Gladiatorial matches.

"That's the match, ladies and gentlemen! Mr. Peverell has completed the First Task quicker than any other champion. And the way he did it, I have never seen anything like it." Ludo Bagman announces to the stunned crowd over their loud cheering. It feels great to have people cheering me on, but I can't have it be too often for my plans to work effectively. Some recognition would make the overall process of ruling this world easier. Still smiling, I at the still-flailing Hungarian Horntail with blood still dripping from its eye where my weapon is still lodged.

I have to admit, when I touched the rock to transform it into a weapon that I could fight with, I wasn't even close to expecting it to become a giant stone scythe. Yet the heavy weapon felt oddly comfortable in my hands, so from now on, I will need to put more emphasis on heavy weaponry during my training.

As I leave the stadium, the Golden Egg tucked under my left arm, I watch with narrowed eyes as the Dragonskeepers try and calm the dragon down and my 'sister' starting to talk with the 2 people I don't want to be in the same room with ever; the people I considered called my parents; victims of a broken society that only fire and death can cure. I wouldn't trust prodding them with a 30-feet long pole. My parents are definitely creative; crafty enough to try and figure out who I truly am behind my disguises. While Hailey is far less subtle than her parents are, she has the potential to come up with a game-changing strategy. So for everyone's sake, I will not even pretend to have any form of relationship with any of my former family; in fact, every second I would spend trying to have a conversation with James, Lily or Hailey would increase the risk of me making the very molecules in their bodies erupt into flames or cursing them for all eternity.

Soon, I enter the Medical Tent, where the plump Hogwarts nurse Madame Pomfrey practically forces me to sit down on a bed as she checks me over. All the while, she's muttering about what else will happen at this school to top the dragons and Dementors that were stationed at Hogwarts when the great traitor Peter Pettigrew broke out of Azkaban, never to be recaptured (so I heard). After waiting for a few minutes, Pomfrey finally decides I'm just fine and lets me walk around the tent. Outside, numerous cheers are going off in the crowd as the final scores for me are still being given. Then as Dumbles starts up some speech, I am called over to the center of the tent. Ludo Bagman had arrived in the tent minutes before, and the rest of the Champions are already gathering to hear what the overly-excited ex-Quidditch player has to say. Fleur and Victor look alright, to my slight disappointment, but Cedric still has some bandages on his face, so he must have been burned during his task.

"Congratulations to all of you for completing the First Task. You will be happy to know that the Second Task will task place on February 24th, so that gives you much time to prepare. Now, to figure out what the Second Task will hold, you must open the Golden Egg. How you open the egg…you must find out for yourselves. Go get rested." With that, Ludo leaves the tent, giddiness radiating from the Irish man like usual.

The rest of the Champions decide that they don't want to stay in the Medical Tent any longer and start to leave. Once outside, they leave to the stadium where they will meet up with their friends and talk about the clue in the Golden Egg and who they think did the best in the Task. Quite frankly, I couldn't care less who did the best or what the Second Task will have to offer. Right now, all I care about is returning to the castle, avoiding my 'family' in the process, test Draco to see if he is worthy of being a 2nd apprentice and activate Darth Malak's holocron to see if there's anything else I must learn before my Sith trial.

Using the Force, I sneak away from the stadium and back up the rocky field to Hogwarts, reflecting on the Weighing of the Wands ceremony and everything before the First Task happened. That went as it should, although Mr. Ollivander was a little confused by my wand/lightsaber's weight. I dismissed it with the fake story that when I got my wand, the core was too weak so more had to be added, giving it the heavier weight. Some reporters raised their eyebrows at hearing that, but I don't care about most of them.

In fact, the only reporter who makes me wary is Rita Skeeter, the same reporter who posted that article involving my entry into the Tri-Wizard Tournament months ago. She is a radical, greedy reporter who will stop at nothing to get the biggest scoop she can. When she pulled me into a closet to try and get a fake interview, I had to use the Force to dissuade her from saying anything scathing about me. But I won't be so lucky next time, so when she dares to try and pull me out of the public view again, I will end her buggy life.

After the narrow escape from the interview, I just sat in the tent, embracing the power the Dark Side embodies, while I waited for my turn to take on the First Task.

After thinking it over, I don't think that I slipped up on anything that needs immediate addressing. Satisfied, I make it back to my guest chambers and lift my right hand. The pyramid-shaped holocron flies into my hand and after using the Force to lock the door and ensure no one has tapped my chambers, I activate the holocron. The familiar figure of Darth Malak appears before me.

"Master." I said, bowing to the hologram.

"Ah, Harrison. Why did you activate my holocron?" Malak asks, a touch of irritation in his voice.

"I want to tell you my Empire is forming. Slowly, but definitely forming, and I have an apprentice. I have but one question for you: Do I have anything else left to learn?"

Malak's attitude shifts from mild irritation to surprise. Then he makes a facial expression that is hard to tell, but I think he is smiling. "I suppose it's time for you to know. I have nothing more to teach you. You have become a true Sith, and all I can bestow on you now is the title of Darth. To perform the task, however, you must go to a land where darkness rules. I want you to think of any place and tell me why you think it will work."

I stroke my chin with my right hand in thought, considering my options. The Somme River in France, where the bloodiest battle of World War 1 was fought? Fort Sumter, where the American Confederates became violent and started the American Civil War? The Tower of London, where numerous people were tortured mercilessly? Then my freeze and I shiver a little. Only one place on this planet is all of those places, and more.

"Master, I think I know of 1 place where the power of a Sith would be almost unstoppable. It is called Auschwitz, a camp located deep in the south of a European nation known as Poland. Around 70 years ago, more than 1 million innocents were tortured, experimented on, even murdered by being gassed to death if they didn't have the strength to work for the Nazis, the organization who ran the facility. When the Allies found the camp, the soldiers were said to have smelled the rotting corpses miles away." I said, grinning as I visualize what Auschwitz looked like back when it was operational and realizing that a place like Auschwitz would be the epitome of a perfect place to build a Sith Academy for all European Force-Sensitives.

Malak looks down, mulling over my suggestion. "Yes…such a place would be perfect to hold a Sith trial. Go there on the day before the New Year and if you pass your trial, you will have finally completed your training. May the Force be with you, my apprentice." With that, the hologram shuts itself off and the holocron snaps closed again.

I stare at it for several seconds before cackling madly. The end of being a measly apprentice is finally coming. I am broken from my happy dance when someone knocks on my door. Thinking quickly, I stop laughing and use the Force to hide the holocron under my bed in case it's my 'parents' who have come knocking. I square my shoulders, and stare at the door. "Come in."

The door opens up and luckily, it is just Daphne who walks in, carefully closing the door behind her. "Harrison. I just wanted to say congratulations on completing the First Task. No one can stop talking about you and how you used a transfigured scythe to injure a dragon." She says as she walks over to one of the beds in the guest chamber and sits on it.

I smile slightly at the compliment, but sense that there's more to her visit than just congratulations. "Thank you. But you don't have to hide anything from me. I already know you didn't come here just to praise me just like the rest of the jerks here praise Hailey."

To her credit, Daphne gives a cold smile. "So you did figure why I'm here. After years of being the heiress to a respected family helps in some regards, I have become unpredictable to most people. Anyway, I really came here to ask you a question. Why are you really teaching me wandless magic? I believe that you are teaching me everything for another reason, and as a friend, I want to know why."

I blink in momentary surprise at her rather blunt question, but smile anyway. She has a way with words that has always left me awestruck, and oddly attracted to her…excuse me, what? Mentally questioning where that came from, I push those thoughts away for now and respond. "When the time comes, Dap, you will know. But now is not that time. For now, I will intensify your training and test Draco to see if he is worthy of being an apprentice."

When Daphne hears that last sentence, her face morphs to shock, changing to cold fury. To my dismay, her skin turns even paler, her eyes amber yellow, and the very air around her starts dropping in pressure, creating spikes of ice. Daphne realizes what is happening, and reigns in her hatred. Everything returns to normal and the now-melted ice splashes on the ground. "Why are you considering taking _Draco_ as an apprentice? He is arrogant, he is spoiled by his father and godfather, and I am learning how to use wandless magic so I can protect my sister from him. So explain to me; Why. Do you want him. As an apprentice?" Her tone is now unmasked and instead of burning hatred, there's a cold tone in her voice that is perhaps more unnerving to listen to. If I was a normal person, that is.

"You're right. When I first met him, I was…underwhelmed, to say the least. So I decided to break into his mind to see if he is for real. Daphne, the things I found in his head were not what I expected. For one thing, only Lord Malfoy threatened the life of your sister if your family was caught associating with mine. Draco had no knowledge of the threat and he might be developing an interest in your younger sister. As for his marriage contract that binds him to Pansy Parkinson, he had no knowledge of that either, so he didn't give his consent to it. In my opinion, it's set up to keep the Malfoy line 'pure.'" I spat when I mention the word, but continue, "Finally, it is worth noting he has an extraordinary amount of loyalty to his father. So much, in fact, I have reason to believe he is under a magical influence. Now tell me, what spell do you know of that can produce an effect like that?"

Daphne just sits on my bed, listening to my explanation with ice blue eyes widening in revelation the more I talk. When I get around to the question, Daphne thinks on that. I can almost feel the gears churning in her head. Then the answer clicks in her mind and she gasps, looking me in the face. "No. You think he's under a compulsion charm?"

I nod in response. "I do. His loyalty to his father, especially his cause, is almost obsessively strong. Luckily, I know who to deal with it. Months ago, the House Elves told me of a chamber on the 7th floor of this school, across from the tapestry of Barnabas the Barmy. Supposedly, it will give us what we need to break those chains. Then we will see if he is worthy of being my apprentice."

"Well, then. What are we waiting for?" Daphne asks, smiling coldly again. I nod, appreciating her support, and we leave my chamber. The students and exchange students have already returned to the castle, still talking among themselves about the First Task. In the middle of the crowd, talking with a dark skinned Slytherin by the name of Blaise Zabini, is the young Malfoy himself.

"Dap, show me what you can do. Tonight, at midnight, use the Dark Side to escape your dormitory and bring Draco with you to the 7th floor. Trust in your powers, and they will guide you to victory. For now, relax and enjoy your day." She nods and leaves me to rejoin her 'friends.' I smile wickedly, feeling my Force illusion slipping for a second before I shut the door.

The rest of the day passes in a bliss. I contacted Pre Vizsla and asked how everything was going on New Concordia. Everything is going extremely well there, with the Z-wings starting to be mass-produced like the Assassin-class fighters, and that a very small floating colony had been developed inside Jupiter, and the light battleships and blockade breakers on a scale that the Hammerhead-class corvettes would envy are being tested and produced. The Trireme-class battleships shouldn't take long to prototype, but mass production can be unpredictable. Speaking of which, the mandalorians are being trained in many forms of warfare so that way they can be prepared for anything and have already begun infiltrating Earth, taking samples of military-grade weaponry and bringing them back to Mars to study them so they can find new ways to advance it for when Peverell Corporation finally goes official. While some may consider me needing to run a corporation on Earth to be laughable, it is absolutely required for my plans in the long run.

For one thing, while some chaos is what a Sith craves, too much chaos caused by aliens dropping from the sky and taking over the world can lead to…unhealthy consequences. So I will establish a name everyone on the planet knows about and when my army conquer the planet, having said face will make rebuilding the world and establishing the empire much easier. That was a concern I once had, so easing that problem will be a major relief. But also, it will make the invasion much more manageable. In essence, the corporation will start production of military technology, reinventing Earth's weapons to make them even more lethal and improving their chemical and nuclear weaponry and sell them at such low prices that even 3rd world nations like Iraq can afford them. The real trick is that a chip will be installed in each weapon so that way, when the invasion occurs, I can lock up every weapon ever built by the corporation with a flip of a switch. Although the chemical and nuclear weaponry, if applied properly, can make devastating damage on the city. In fact, throwing a vastly important and populated like Corusant into a nuclear winter sounds rather appealing.

When Vizsla's report ends, the transmission is cut off and I hide the communication device again when I notice it is 6. I leave my guest rooms and head to the Great Hall for dinner, where the students are _still_ chatting about the Task. Seriously, it's starting to get a little ridiculous now. My fellow Ravenclaws are also staring at me with expressions of awe and fear. All is fairly quiet, until Hailey walks over to me as I leave the Great Hall after dinner. "Hey. I just wanted to congratulate you on your wonderful performance. You know, I just want to say I'm sorry for being a jerk in the past. Do you want to be friends again?" She asks, holding out her hand.

I freeze in place, mentally scoffing. Like she would _really_ want to mend our broken relationship. I can sense that she's struggling to so much as hold out her hand to me. It's all BS; just an excuse for her to try and get into my well-built defenses. So I do what I am becoming rather infamous for. "No doy una porqueria. Vaya ser un decapante, para todo que me importa." I tell her as I walk past her, ignoring her exasperated expression. She has been trying so hard to understand what I'm saying in Spanish, but failing miserably. I make it back to my guest chamber, get into pajamas that were provided to me, and crawl under the covers and fall asleep, only now feeling my exhaustion from kicking the butt of a rather dangerous dragon, even by dragon standards.

I got a few hours of sleep before the Dark Side woke me. After extending my senses, I realize that it's already midnight. I flip the covers off me and walk to the door. Slowly and carefully, I open the door and have a look around. No one is coming. I close the door behind me and begin my journey to the 7th floor. I delve into the Dark Side, cloaking me from sight from those wretched paintings and ghosts. The walk is short, but feels like an eternity due to the light pounding in my head from waking up in the middle of the night. When I make it to the 7th floor, Daphne is already there with an unconscious Draco slung over her shoulders. "Hey. I see you didn't have any trouble getting past the teachers and Prefects wandering the corridors."

Daphne shook her head, smiling. "With what you taught me, they were easy to avoid. Even keeping this boy here unconscious. And I used the Force to make the door appear." She says proudly. While I haven't told her the complete truth about everything, I have told her that I learned to call magic by its proper name.

I stare at the doorway before us, raising an eyebrow in surprise. "You are most impressive." I admit, then use the Force to make the doors creak open. "Ladies first." I walk over and take a sleeping Draco. I have to admit, even as a Sith, I can't help but think this would look really odd if someone came along.

Daphne smiles and walks inside, followed by me. Inside is a vast chamber which happens to have everything I need: A circular floor covered in ancient runes. I walk to the center of the room and set Draco down, taking care to make sure he is completely inside the central circle. Daphne turns around and uses the Force to seal the door behind us as I sink to my knees and brush the runes with my fingertips. The smooth, grey stone radiates with the Force like crazy, concentrated power sealed away and awaiting my command. Seeing no reason to wait anymore, I unleash my dark power upon the runes, touching the symbol of a snake curving to the right before straightening itself.

Suddenly, all of the runes on the ground start glowing with a black light, the Force radiating from them even stronger than ever. Such power would be perfect for the average Sith to use, giving them an advantage over an average Jedi. Draco suddenly starts writhing on the ground, pain etched on every inch of his face as the runes do their job, expelling the charm on Draco before destroying it.

Even though the entire process took mere seconds, I can already tell it's done. I stare at the still-unconscious form of the young Malfoy, a small amount of steam curling off his body. He lay on the ground, still and silent as a statue, before he starts groaning and his eyes flutter open. He sits up, groaning even louder, before facing us.

Thought I will deny it for years to come, I did a double-take when I see this new Draco Malfoy. While nothing changed physically for him, mentally he was a completely different person. All the arrogance that was once on his face is now gone and his steel grey eyes are much brighter, like molten silver. "What…happened?" He murmurs, his voice weak.

"I removed a spell controlling your actions to an extent. Now tell me, who placed it on you?" I ask. It is a way to test his intellect, even if I already have an idea on who put the charm on him. I'm asking this to see if I can gain anything from freeing Draco's mind.

The boy in question's face changes to one of thought, then revelation and hatred. "Father did it to me. He placed a compulsion charm on me so I would be my father's perfect pureblood heir after I discovered he stuck me onto a marriage contract with that Parkinson girl and wiped my memory of it." I have to admit, I didn't think he would piece that together as quickly as he did.

"Yes, he did, Draco. But you now have a chance to change your fate. Pledge your services to me and I will ensure you will have a better life and power you can possibly imagine." Now all that must happen is see if Draco takes the bait.

He stares at me with a calculating look, then stands up. Once he is standing up tall, he bows his head in respect. "You set me free from the pureblood ways. For that, I am forever at your service, Master."

* * *

 _AN:_ Eh, it wasn't my favorite chapter, but it established some important points.

As for Harrison's view on Rita Skeeter, I can assure you she WILL die painfully. I have something truly special in store for her.

See you next time when developments continue and a prelude to the coming Yule Ball.


	10. Chapter 10: Preparations

**December 24** **th**

 **1994**

 **8:00 am Earth time**

 **Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry**

 **Scotland**

 **Earth**

* * *

 **Harrison Peverell's POV:**

* * *

For the next month, I trained in the Room of Requirement harder than ever, learning by experience how to wield any heavy weaponry, like hammers and scythes, brutally and effectively. I also taught my 2 apprentices basic lessons how to better control their Force powers, and giving them differing courses so they can learn how to use their unique Force gifts in combat, to give them an unpredictable edge over those wretched Jedi when my crusade to purge them from the galaxy begins. I can trust them with my life because they will always be loyal to be out of gratitude for saving them from their disappointment and pain.

For example, Dap is learning to use Ataru and Niman with 2 blades, as well as how to utilize the Dark Side to create concentrated amounts of ice to give her a variety of advantages, like she could create ice spikes as a replacement weapon in case she lost her weapon. In other words, Dap is literally living up to her nickname of 'Ice Queen.' Something that is only increasing my genuine respect for her.

Draco, however, is certainly a welcome surprise. Even if he doesn't orient himself around combat like Dap is, he is certainly talented with a regular, single blade with longer length and already getting the hang of Djem So. But his greatest weapon is his absurdly cunning mind, which can work even faster if the Force gives it a boost. Seriously, the rate at which his mind works would drive me insane, coming up with sneaky tactics to simulated battlefields and beating Dap at chess almost every time when the 3 of us would secretly hang out in my guest room after their lessons.

In fact, Draco was progressing so far in his field that I decided to ask him what his opinion is on for a rather unpredictable situation: When the wizarding world is attacked, what would be done about the goblins as a race? I mean, I have an idea what I should do about them, but having a 2nd opinion would be valuable. Draco thought it over for a day before giving me his response: The goblins are a warrior species, so they would join in defending the wizards when my people attacked. However, that would only be because of the treaty between wizards and goblins. It's rather clear that the goblins despise the wizards, and if they are told to do so by their leaders, they would stand by and let their 'allies' burn without hesitation or regret. His suggestion is how to make sure that order is passed.

So that has become my current mission. This morning, I wrote a 2nd letter to the headmaster and left the school; the 1st letter I wrote went to Griphook, essentially saying in a polite manner that I would like to meet him at the Leaky Cauldron. In essence, the letter said that I would like some time on my own and that I am going to take care of some personal business for a few hours today, while also promising that I would return to Hogwarts in time for the Yule Ball in case it lasts much longer than I think. If I had my way completely, I would skip the wizards' version of prom and stay at home, ensuring that the warships' testing is on schedule and Peverell Corporation is ready to become official by the time New Year's Day comes around. Sadly, while I can act as rude as possible and do whatever I want, I still need to be wary of each step I take, ensuring that I leave no paper trail for anyone to figure out my true plans until it's far too late. Even if that means picking a date to go with me to the Ball. Since I don't think champions are allowed to go with each other, I will go do it with Daphne.

But right now, I am making my way towards the Hogsmead Station, where the Hogwarts Express is to pick or drop off students at the school. It is a large area, and safely outside of any wards put at the school, so I will be able to teleport away from the school without being seen. As I am about to leave the school, the robes I wore when I first arrived at Hogwarts billowing around me, a timid voice calls out, "Harrison?"

Recognizing the voice, I turn around and see Neville Longbottom standing in the middle of the corridor that leads back into the castle. Ever since I got here, I have been assessing the students to see who would be worthy candidates in the reborn Sith Order. The teachers would not live, as they are too attached to the wizarding ways and their wands to make them worthwhile. Barty Crouch Jr. would have been an interesting candidate, except his loyalty to Voldemort is borderline obsessive, so that ruined his chances. That goes for most of the older students as well, with the exception of Neville and the twins. They, like the younger students, could be molded into Sith warriors if the wands their Force powers become increasingly dependent on were destroyed. The twins would make effective fighters, but when the invasion starts, I have no doubt that most, if not all, the Weasley family will die; that would sour any openings for the twins to join me. It almost makes me sad, thinking of two of my oldest friends fighting against me.

As for Neville…he has more room for molding than the others. He, like me, is looked down upon by the larger wizarding society, who are so stagnant they won't ever change their ways unless their very lives and society was on the verge of being torn down. Like the Magical Congress of the United States of America did when Newt Scamander visited New York in 1926, but at least they handled the situation better than the _modern_ Ministry of Magic in Britain in that they actually tried to alleviate the problem. Anyway, while Neville is blissfully naïve and loyal to Dumbledore, I just need the perfect spark that would push him over the edge and willingly unleash his festering anger upon all those who stand in his way. I wonder…would Crouch Jr. be that right spark, given his past charges?

"Hello Neville." I respond, an almost flat tone in my voice. But I manage a small smile at least.

To his credit, Neville doesn't flinch when I speak to him in that tone. Having a reputation of being a little insane after the First Task certainly doesn't help matters. "I was just wondering where you are going."

"Home. Just for a while to take care of some personal business with some old friends." I tell the younger boy. It is true from a perspective, but I plan to do much more.

Neville just nods in acceptance, his face saddening a little. "Alright. I'll see you soon, then." He says then walks off.

I stare at his back before turning around and continuing by stroll to the station. Younger students who had no intention of going to the Yule Ball are already loading their trunks onto the train before it departs. At least the wizards are using physical strength in pulling that aboard, instead of relying on their magic in yet another way.

Making my way into the shadows of one of the Hogsmead buildings, I concentrate on the Dark Side and I can feel its power surging through me, whisking me to a dark backalley in the middle of normal London. Once I am reassembled, I use the Force to sense if anyone is watching me in case I will have to kill anyone. Unfortunately, from a perspective, no one had seen me teleport in. It's good for my cover, but I have been going stir-crazy, not out killing people to further my plans. It almost makes me wonder if the mandalorians of my growing empire feel the same way.

Pushing all other thoughts out of my mind, I head into the Leaky Cauldron. The place is even more archaic than Hogwarts and darker, with tables full of seedy-looking witches and wizards, talking about the Tri-Wizard Tournament, the happenings around the wizarding World, what have you. Luckily, I threw up a Force version of the see-me-not charm so no one even looked at me as I walk through the bar, looking at each and every face to see if it's the goblin I left a very positive impression on. After a minute or 2 of seeking out the unique Force signatures goblins give, I found the goblin in question sitting next to a table in the far-left corner of the pub, if I can call it that. The Force radiates around him, stronger than most of his kin. Maybe he has an unrestricted connection to the Force, which would make him a powerful ally with a bit of training that would most likely come when the empire is established.

I walk over to the table, bowing to Griphook in respect, then sit down before the goblin. His eyes widen in slight surprise at my curtsy, but nods his heads. "Mr. Peverell. How nice to see you again."

"Indeed, Master Griphook. I see you got my message." I respond.

The goblin's eyes widen in surprise and slight suspicion. "I did. Which brings me to my question: Why would you just contact me out of the blue just to ask a favor when you could have asked a wizard to do the same thing?" Griphook asks, his tone on the edge of being hateful.

I cackle on the inside. It's starting to look like my suspicions on the goblins' and wizards' opinions of each other are just as I suspected, but I need confirmation. "I am not going to beat around the bush; I am asking for a favor from you because you are the only one who can help me, given your position at Gringotts. Since I'm telling you the truth, I want you to be blunt with me. What do you truly think about wizarding society as a whole?" Quickly, I throw up some protections so no one can hear our conversation.

Griphook stares at me for a few seconds like I just asked him to suck my penis, and in response, I give him a look that betrays a hidden message: Defy me and you will suffer. Griphook certainly got the message, and feels my power through the Force, judging by how his face changes to a stunned look. Another long and awkward silence passes before he gives me an answer, whispering as a precaution. "If you want my opinion, I hate all of them. They think they rule my people, stripping us of being a true warrior race like the muggles in the Middle Ages were. Even as their bankers, we are under tight rule to ensure that it is to their pleasure. If I could, I would kill them; anything to show they don't own me." His voice only gets angrier and angrier the more he talks about his opinion on wizard society.

Well, that ends any doubt at this point. I give Griphook a cold smile, something that makes the goblin almost smile back, figuring something is in my mind. "Good, because I am going to tell you something that will satisfy your darkest pleasures and all goblins who share your view. All I ask is that you send a message to your new director, Ragnok. Tell him that thanks to my past, I had learned of an army that is massing, hidden in plain sight. Soon, the army will have enough power to conquer the world and burn the wizarding world to the ground. Tell Ragnok to tell the leaders of the goblin species that when this army attacks, have the goblins do the one thing the wizards will never suspect: When their homes are being burned to the ground, when they beg you to help save them from catastrophe, do nothing. When the dust settles, the whole truth will be revealed. Do you understand?"

Griphook just sits there, listening to the message intently. While I can tell that he truly wants to believe such a thing happening, doubt still lingers in his eyes. "That is quite a tall claim, Mr. Peverell. How can you prove to me that this is possible? An army with the power to conquer the world seems farfetched. And I need to find a way to prove it to my director."

I nod in understanding, figuring that he would ask something like that. "I can prove it. I am a leader in this army, and if you want, I can even arrange a meeting with one of my fellow commanders. But if you want solid proof…tell them to look at muggle news. The proof is that in 12 days' time, at the beginning of next year, Peverell Corporation will become official. We will sell rigged military equipment at such low prices that no one will have not heard of us. The company is your proof."

Griphook mulls my words over for another long pause, then, "All right, then. I will tell Ragnok of this development. I'm sure he will be happy to just stand by and do nothing. Is that it?"

"No, that's all. I hope you have a nice day, Master Griphook. May your enemies fall to your blade." With that, I stand up and leave the Leaky Cauldron through the back entrance. Hopefully, the goblins will get my message and follow through on it. I make it into Diagon Alley, walk into an empty side street and use the Force to transport myself back to my private mansion. When I am finished doing that, I just decide to walk to the edge of the hill my manor is on. Spread out before me is the city of Athens, a city where the old world and modern world come together. To most of the Republic, such a place is almost impossible. I am so focused on the scene before me that I didn't notice the starship next to the chapel or the person walking towards me.

"It certainly is a unique view that not even Mandalore can't match." I whirl around, ready to cut the intruder's head off with the lightsaber I always keep on hand. But when I see it's Pre Vizsla, I lower my arms and stare at him suspiciously.

"Hello General. What are you doing here?"

"I came to give you some news that came in, but mainly get a change in scenery. Even if I'm a mandalorian, being stuck in the same city for months has made me somewhat restless. So I opted to take a fighter and deliver the news to you personally. I was going to just leave you a message, but since you're here, we can talk about it."

"Very well. Then come inside; we can talk over some scotch that I need after dealing with idiots." Together, we walk into the mansion, which is still spotless thanks to the house's strong connection to the Force. I lead the mandalorian into the kitchen, where I pull a high-quality bottle of scotch from my private stash under the island and pour us both cups filled with ice. When I finish, I give one of the cups to my guest. "So, what's been going on?"

"Quite a bit, my emperor. The prototype for our 1st Trireme-class battleship is finished and is undergoing testing as we speak. I know you have been anxious about starting the Corporation on time, but luckily, we have enough money and product to ensure everything's on schedule. While my men are getting a little tired from constantly working each day, it is also preventing serious bar fights from breaking out." Vizsla reports, taking a sip from his glass.

"Excellent. Especially since I told the goblins to keep an eye out for the company's arrival. A few minutes ago, I told said goblin a censored version of our plans. If we are lucky, we won't have anything to worry from them, aside from making sure we don't accidentally kill one." I respond, also taking a drink.

Vizsla nearly chokes on his drink when he hears that. "Well, that certainly makes everything easier. Now, you will be happy to know that Bo-Katan has been elected as the official senator representative for Mandalore in the Galactic Senate. Now we will know each and every move they make."

"And with my sleeper agent in the Jedi temple, we have eyes everywhere. Yes, this is certainly turning out well. Anything else?" I ask.

Vizsla thinks on it before he responds. "There is more, from Jango Fett. He has informed us today that he has been hired by your former master, Count Dooku. He wants your bounty hunter to be test subject to create clones on the distant planet of Kamino."

"Clones?" I ask, a little caught off-guard by that response, "For who?"

"From what Jango figures, my lord, for the Republic. He's planning on signing the deal under the name of a Jedi by the name of Sifo-Dyas."

I lean against the countertop behind me, contemplating this information out loud. "Dooku abandoned the Republic years ago. Now he wants to create a clone army under the name of a Jedi who died years ago?" Then it hits me. Dooku must have found a Sith, perhaps whoever was partnered with the infamous Darth Maul. That means whoever took Dooku in is either the mastermind behind this peculiar information, or Dooku is up to something big.

"There's one last thing. On Bo-Katan's first day as a Senator, she caught wind of an informant who operates in the Outer Rim. A human by the name of Kyle Rey has started delivering insider news to the Senate on the peace or any local conflicts that need addressing."

A moment of silence passes. "Wait. Kyle Rey, as in the son of Darius Rey, the notorious space pirate who made his name known in the Outer Rim?" I ask. I'd heard of the family, and if they find us, well…let's just say things are going to get rough for everyone.

"Yes, my emperor. And there are rumors that his family is as attuned to the Force as any Jedi Master is. But what caught Bo-Katan's attention was that we found Jango's missing sister, Arla. She is part of them." My throat goes dry at hearing those words. A space pirate crew, run by a family who are possibly descended from rogue Jedi and the sister of a famous bounty hunter.

"Make sure that no trails lead to us. That all sounds fantastic, general. When I am done with the Wizarding World, I will return to Mars. Thank you for telling me that."

Vizsla bows in respect, finishing off his scotch, and I walk him out the house. Vizsla puts his mandalorian helmet back on, walks over to his fighter, and after making sure stealth mode is on, takes off.

Seeing no more reason to stick around, I use the Force once more and teleport myself back to Hogwarts, just outside its borders so as to not tip Dumbledore off. Once it's safe, I start walking up the hill and back to the castle.

Like it or not, I have a Ball to go to later and a date to ask out.

* * *

 _AN:_ That's that.

The goblins are going to be notified (to a degree) of the invasion and will do nothing. Also, I placed in a small reference to Rise of the Jedi. Can anyone guess what it is?

Anyway, see you next time when the Yule Ball arrives. I admit, it wasn't exactly my favorite part of the book compared to other parts of the book, but I have a few plans to…spice it up. Most importantly, it is a prelude to when this story (in my opinion) finally starts to get good.

Have a happy Easter.


	11. Chapter 11: The Yule Ball

**December 24** **th**

 **1994**

 **11:35 am Earth time**

 **Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry**

 **Scotland**

 **Earth**

* * *

 **Daphne Greengrass's POV:**

* * *

What was I THINKING?

I had decided to stay at Hogwarts for the Winter holidays, thinking that I would have a date for the upcoming Yule Ball by now. Sadly, that is not the case. Don't get me wrong, a few boys tried asking me out to it, but ever since I been training with the Force, I could sense their emotions. I turned all of them away because they only liked me for my looks, not for who I am as a person.

Right now, staring out at the Black Lake from my sitting position on the side of the hill Hogwarts rests on, I am starting to wonder if I should even go to the Ball at all. But as I think about it more, I realize that there's only 1 person I would actually go with: my old friend who now goes by Harrison Peverell.

Ever since he came to Hogwarts, he had changed my life. A few examples include him having shown he a new branch of magic that is much more efficient than magic itself, and his skills in combat are greater than anyone I know. I don't know how or why, but I've been developing some strong…feelings for him.

As I am stuck within my own mind, I cease to notice someone walking up to me. "Hello Dap." The person says. I tense for a few seconds, ready to strike, but then I realize who it might be. I turn my head back to look and sure enough, Harrison is standing there in the well-tailored and fancy dark blue wizarding robes, the castle behind him. He has a small smile on his face as he stares down at me.

"I see you have returned from doing your _personal business_." I respond, looking up at him with a blank expression. He told me and Draco about that business yesterday after he called us to his personal chambers. I, however, am not a fool. I could tell that there was much more to that business than he was letting on, and I could tell Draco knew that as well. But upon Harrison's orders, me and Draco never discussed what he could have been doing since we are not allowed to interact at any other time to cover any possible tracks. I personally wouldn't worry about that, since most of the students here are thick-headed idiots, there are those like Albus Dumbledore who should not be taken lightly.

"Indeed." Harrison responds, taking a seat on my left and also staring out at the Black Lake. "So, who are you going to the Yule Ball with?"

My emotional mask cracks for a second and I stare at him with open shock. "Are you seriously asking me that question? Of course I'm not going out with just anyone. Besides, aren't you going to the Ball with Fleur? You know, this is kind of ironic coming from you, given your history with Balls when we were kids." Believe it or not, it is completely true. I still remember the time my family went to one of the annual Ministry-held Christmas Balls where other such respected families as the Potters also went to. Harrison just took some of the fruit punch and hid out in another room, reading a book the entire time. I recall asking why he hated those events, and him responding with how he hated the noise and the arrogant chatter amongst the 'pureblood' wizards about how the entire nation and every magical creature could never survive without the pureblood's generous donation. He left the room when Lucius started that conversation so he wouldn't scream at the white-haired man to shut the hell up*.

Harrison shook his head. "I may not be exactly excited about the forthcoming event, but I have to go to it. As for Fleur…I won't be going with her. We talked about it a few days ago and concluded that champions are not allowed to go out with each other to this event. So that brings me to something I want to ask you: Would you like to be my date to the Yule Ball? We may not look forward to it, but at least we will be stuck together doing it."

I don't respond to the question for several moments, for my throat has gone dry. My heart starts leaping in my chest for a few seconds. Then, I regain my composure and give him the warmest smile I can muster, which some would still consider cold since I've been training. "Of course I will go out with you to the Ball. Someone's got to keep you in line after all."

Harrison laughs out loud at my dry comment. "Alright. I'll see you tomorrow." With that, he stands up and walks back to the castle. I return my stare to the Black Lake and I make myself a promise. I will make sure that this event is one to remember for both of us.

The rest of the day comes and goes, with students trying to learn how to dance in time for tomorrow night. Quite frankly, it's hard not to laugh at how much effort they are putting into something as simple as dancing. Now as I was raised to be a 'proper pureblood', dance lessons were included.

Tomorrow, I wake up and head to the Slytherin common room with excitement. Today is Christmas Day! In the Slytherin Common Room is a gigantic Christmas tree where hundreds of Christmas presents are laid out for all the Slytherin students. The 1st years are already in the common room, ripping open their presents. One of them looks up at me and says, "Happy Christmas!"

I can't help but give a small smile at the greeting and walk over to the gifts to see if I got anything. Surprisingly, I received about 4 gifts in all. After grabbing them so as to not catch any unwanted attention, I head back to the 4th year girls' dormitories and after getting seated on my bed, I open them one at a time.

Father sent me a brown wand holster that I can strap to one of my arms so I can enter a wizarding duel quickly, a long, Mum sent me a plain silver dress when she heard that the Yule Ball was approaching**, and my little sister Astoria gave me 2 books. One is Hogwarts: A History and the other is Quidditch Through the Ages. Yes, she quite enjoys reading books in her spare time the way Harrison used to do***.

Like yesterday, today came and went really fast. At first, I was walking to breakfast with all the remaining Slytherin students, the next, it's an hour until the Yule Ball. The girls are already form a line to the bathroom so they can get changed into their various dresses and make sure their makeup is just right before they go off to meet their various dates. Honestly, it's hard not to laugh at how stingy they are about everything and how some of the girls start to get impatient and start shouting at one another.

Luckily, I make it into the changing room before a particularly nasty fight about who stole whose makeup could break out. For the next half hour, I get dressed into the dress Mum had sent me and pull my hair back into a ponytail. For the last few months, I have let my hair grow out so it stretches down to my mid-back. When I am finished, I go to the closest mirror. The silver dress, while it doesn't show any cleavage, does leave my shoulders bare and stretches down to my ankles. After adding a small amount of makeup and some silver high heel shoes Mum also sent, I finally leave the bathroom and the dormitory completely. Fortunately, the fight had broken up quite a while ago.

Casually but warily, I stroll down the winding corridors of Hogwarts towards the Great Hall, my high heels clicking loudly against the silence. The revolting caretaker of this boarding school, Argus Filch, had worked overtime to make sure all the floors, paintings, and even the hundreds of suits of armor have that extra shine. After several silent minutes, I arrive at the entrance to the Great Hall. Several people are already gathering at the closed entrance, with the Champions and their dates standing in the front of the group with Professor McGonagall watching over the entire crowd. Some of the couples are unsurprising, like Neville's going with Ginny, Fleur Delacour is going with Roger Davies, and Cedric Diggory is going with Cho Chang. The real surprise is that Victor Krum is going with Hermione Granger…of all people. But then I notice Harrison in front.

He notices me and walks over. "Hello, Dap. You're looking good tonight." He comments dryly, taking my right hand into his own left hand.

I give my own dry smile, but look at my deputy headmistress when she shouts, "Attention please. As it is now 8 o'clock, the Yule Ball shall now…begin." With that, she turns around and flicks her wand at the large wooden doors.

The doors creak a little, but they swing wide open to reveal the Great Hall, decorated for this very moment. I stare incredulously at the Great Hall, completely covered with icicles, snow from the cloudy illusion hanging on the ceiling, and 3 plain Christmas trees at the back of the hall, behind the staff table. The center tree is taller than the 2 on either side, and the entire hall is ringed by numerous circular tables, with the one on the right side is considerably larger than the others and rectangular. Because I have been learning how to use ice through the Force, I am rather comfortable with the cold, but really? This is considered uniquely decorated? When I briefly look at Harrison, all I see is a blank look. But I can tell deep down that he's thinking the same thing I am.

All at once, we surge into the newly decorated Great Hall and walk to the center of the Great Hall, where a giant space is set out. Most likely to give the appropriate amount of space for everyone to dance wildly. That's when I notice a group of 8 men wearing ragged clothes sporting a series of musical instruments. My heart leaps into my throat when I realize who they are: They are the popular band I hear on the magically enchanted radio, the Weird Sisters!

"Everyone, can I have your attention?" Dumbledore, dressed in ice blue robes, shouts over the crowd who are murmuring amongst each other on how this should go. "I would like to welcome you all to this very special event. Right now, the champions will start dancing then everyone may be allowed to dance for as long as they desire. All I ask is that you have a wonderful night. Let the Yule Ball…begin."

When Dumbledore said the last word, the Weird Sisters start playing one of their more famous songs, "This Is the Night" while me and Harrison join in and start dancing with the other champions. It's a slow dance, with me and Harrison going in a slow circle, but the movements are smooth and feel natural, so no one is stepping on each other's toes. I have to admit, Harrison is surprisingly good at dancing, especially since he hadn't danced in years. I doubt he would have, given his 'story' about the mercenaries. Thing is, the more I'm connecting the Force and getting to know him again, the more I get the feeling he's lying about a great many things.

After a few minutes of slow dancing, the rest of the students and even the teachers join in, mimicking our dance style. This goes on for several minutes, but as it goes on, I notice that several of the students have quickly stopped dancing and are either pigging out at the concession table or just standing around talking with each other. For example, Neville has stopped dancing with Ginny and is currently arguing with Hailey in a corner. I can't hear what they are saying, not that I really care, but they both look rather disgruntled about something. However, that argument is nothing compared to what the youngest Weasley brother had gotten himself into. The poor fool was getting shouted at by his date, Padma Patil, loud enough for me to faintly hear them. Who knew that she had the ability to scream bloody murder and curse like a horse the way she is doing with Ronald? The boy's face starts burning up brightly and he walks up, his head hanging low. Hailey had finished with her argument and while Neville returns to the dance floor to rejoin Ginny, she stays where she is so she can talk with Ron as they stare at Hermione.

I may be no romantic, but I can tell from Ron's gaze that he's jealous of Victor for asking Hermione to this event first. The dance is nice, but after about half an hour, I am getting bored with the repetitive movements.

With the distant look on Harrison's face, I can he's thinking the same thing. When he feels me looking at him curiously, he reigns his focus back in. "Dap, I need to tell you something."

I nearly stumble when I hear that, but I stop so that wouldn't happen. "What?" I ask, a hint of suspicion unfortunately working its way in.

But Harrison either doesn't hear it or just ignores it, and just responds with, "Follow me." He then walks off the stage. I immediately get curious and also walk off the stage, completely forgetting about the dance occurring around me, and follow him out of the Great Hall altogether. Within minutes, I have followed him outside the castle and in the middle of the vast courtyard. Harrison looks up and stares at the stars on this cloudless night. "It's a beautiful night. I can see all of the stars."

I decide to look up at the night sky, and sure enough, the sky is cloudless so I can see the almost-full moon and stars clearly. But I pull my attention away from the stargazing and return my attention to Harrison. "You didn't ask me to follow you just so we could stargaze. Pardon me for my bluntness, but why are we just standing here?" I ask, the curiosity finally getting the better of me.

He finally looks at me and his gaze is hardened and wary. "Dap, there's something I wanted to tell you: I'm sorry for lying to you."

That froze me in my tracks. My eyes narrow to the point where they are slits as I stare at him open mouthed. "What did you say?" I ask, my voice sounding more like a harsh winter wind.

Harrison, however, doesn't flinch at the cold tone as he stares back at me, flicking his left hand in a way one would use to cast a spell while it remains at his side. "I lied to you completely about my past, and now, I believe I can trust you enough to tell you the whole truth. I was never raised by mercenaries at any time. On my 7th birthday, the reason I was gone so long was that I found an old ship that crash-landed under that hill millennia ago. It wasn't just a ship, it was a starship. I took it to numerous systems, where more life and humans exist, and landed on a large planet called Corusant. They have an order of knights who operate there called the Jedi. They are the ones who taught me how to use the Force, which is a different way of using magic. The Jedi knights, I would realize later, are the foot soldiers of a council who don't give a damn about themselves. While their intentions are noble, they neglect the most basic of emotions, not realizing that they are only tearing themselves apart. So I secretly trained in the arts of another order of Force-users as ancient as the Jedi, called the Sith. Every technique I have taught you and Draco had been Sith techniques. Eventually, I grew tired of the Jedi ways and managed to recruit a band of warrior humans called the mandalorians. They are already set up on Mars, preparing to take over this planet and burn the wizarding world to the ground. With the hardened people of this planet and the right resources, I have no doubt the Galactic Republic, the government who the Jedi serve, will crumble and the Jedi die with them." As he finishes, his appearance changes slightly, but still noticeable. His skin becomes paler and his green eyes start burning a volcanic orange color.

I continue staring at him with rapt attention, to the point where my eyes start burning after not blinking for several minutes. My hands start shaking as I listen to him. Despite the Force telling me he speaks the truth, I just can't believe it. "You actually expect me to believe that story?" I ask, working my way through the doubt in my skepticism starts bubbling up.

Harrison smirks, no doubt sensing my inner confusion. "If I'm lying, can you explain me how I learned such a radical form of magic? How I disappeared so effectively that not even the goblins' Force usage could find me?"

I open my mouth to speak, but no words come out. I have nothing to counter his statement with. The skepticism I have dissipates, but I still need to see proof to make sure he's telling the truth. "OK. But how can I believe you?"

Harrison's face turns cold and angry, his eyes almost glowing with hate. "We're being eavesdropped." He then holds out his right hand, and I feel the Force pulling towards him. Instead of Hailey, Ron, or anyone else, an unusually large beetle flies into his open palm. "Well, well, well. If it isn't Rita Skeeter. Hoping to get a new story by abusing your powers?" He asks calmly, but with barely restrained fury.

I am so confused right now. Why does he think that beetle is that annoying reporter for the _Daily Prophet_? Then it hits me like a stone to the face; how she always gets those exclusive interviews, how she always seems to come and go from places she doesn't belong without being seen. She has to be an animagus! Dad told me about those people, wizards who gain the ability to turn into animals based on their personalities. "So what are you going to do with her?" I ask, still staring at the beetle held captive in Harrison's closed palm.

I can see his smirk grow wider as he reopens his palm. He then uses the Force to cause the beetle to zoom to the ground, mere inches in front of my left shoe. She buzzes loudly, looking around with panic in her beady little eyes. "This is your crossroad on how you should proceed in life. If you do believe me, then do whatever you want to put the infernal reporter out of her misery. If you don't believe me, then tell me bluntly and I will release her. She will fly back to the Ministry and write her article on us. To her, this conversation will be the scoop of the century. When she publishes her article tomorrow, I will be sent to Azkaban, and my people will invade this planet and without me to keep them in line, millions dying needlessly as a result. It's your choice."

I stare down at Rita in her animagus form, and my heart leaps. I consider my options for a few seconds when I realize something I never have before. I like this new Harry even more than the boy I was friends with years ago. Someone who is able to look past just what they see and not afraid to personally get involved in annihilating anyone who dares stand in this way. It's time for me to stop hiding, to use my talents to do what I want instead of what is good for a corrupt society. By the Force and every single Sith who ever lived, I will help Harrison Peverell wipe out the Jedi Order and anyone who stands with them!

Rita stops buzzing as loudly, seemingly smug that she will escape with her life and further her career. Then I lift up my left leg and stomp the flat part of my high heel shoes on the beetle. Harrison blinks in momentary surprise at my actions then looks back at me with surprise, before flashing a deranged grin. "Well done, Dap. That was a particularly nasty way to go out, I think. You have certainly started your path to becoming a true Sith."

I smirk widely, then lift my shoe and after I use the Force, the guts of what was Rita Skeeter get wiped off. Once it's gone completely, I walk over to Harrison and wrap my arms around his waist. "Thank you. But there's another reason why I will stay at your side. You're not just my friend, you've become…much more to me." I admit.

He blinks, shock flashing across his face again, before he smiles again. But unlike a maniacal grin like I've seen during our alone time, this one is warm and welcoming. "You are certainly full of surprises, Dap. Utilize that, and no Jedi can stand against you. Also, I promise that you that I will never leave you for any reason."

"Good. Now let's begin the true mission. Happy Jedi Hunting." I answer.

"May the odds be ever in our favor." He replies, smirking widely. He leans in and kisses me on the lips, a gesture that I take happily. Yes, tonight is truly a night to remember.

* * *

 _AN:_ This was a surprisingly hard chapter for me to write, but I managed to pull it off.

I hated Rita Skeeter and the Yule Ball wasn't my favorite part of the book, so I decided to make things interesting.

*Can anyone guess what I'm referencing with this part?

**I'm pretty sure this is how the students prepared for the Yule Ball. I don't know and honestly, I don't particularly care. I'm sorry if you took this note as bad attitude, I just didn't appreciate that part of the book.

***Well, her son Scorpius Malfoy, is always a major geek, memorizing and reciting facts with an ease that I don't believe Draco possesses, so I'm going to say that she is a bookworm as well.

Anyway, see you all next time when the story truly starts getting good.

Later, everyone.


	12. Chapter 12: Kadabra's Rise

**December 31** **st**

 **1994**

 **9:17 pm Earth time**

 **Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry**

 **Scotland**

 **Earth**

* * *

 **Harrison Peverell's POV:**

* * *

It is about damn time.

After months of mentally preparing myself, I am ready to do the Sith trial and become a true Dark Lord of the Sith. It has already been several days since I had started my secret relationship with Dap, and honestly, I have felt much more content about anything than I have in a long time. It also doesn't help that after months of investment and planning, Peverell Corporation will finally launch tomorrow morning.

The gears are now moving, and there's no going back now. Today, I waited for many hours, socializing with Fleur or any Durmstrang student or just stay holed up in my guest chambers and work ahead on my homework so no one can grill me for anything to just burn time. But now, the sun has long set and everyone in the castle, aside from the patrols, are fast asleep.

I get back on my fancy dark blue fancy robes that people saw me in when I arrived at this castle, grab my lightsaber and holocron, and walk towards the entrance, opening up quickly but silently. Quickly using the Force, I sense that all the patrols have passed my chambers on their sweeps and it is safe to proceed. Even if any of them were coming, I have seen how tired the teachers, especially the Prefects, are while they do their duty. They are so drowsy and uncaring that they would probably not notice or care if a drunk gungan decided to rampage through the castle, for crying out loud!

Shaking my head lightly at the absurd idea, I close the door behind me and use the Force to muffle my footsteps as I sneak down the dark, winding hallways that will eventually lead to the courtyard, where I know I can safely teleport to Auschwitz without being seen or detected. Can't risk tipping Dumbledore off. Several minutes later, I arrive at the courtyard, staring up at the night sky; the last night of 1994. Normals, a term I coined so that I can talk about those who don't have the Force in them without sounding as offensive or racist, all over the world are still awake, ready to celebrate the coming of 1995. The year my plans start moving along even faster. Too bad the wizards are too stupid to celebrate the coming year, just because it would be too similar to the normals' celebration, something 'noble purebloods' like Lucius Malfoy would rather die than see happen.

Not wanting to waste any more time, I close my eyes and concentrate on the Dark Side like always and my body dissolves into nothingness for several seconds before feeling returns. Knowing that it's safe, I open my eyes and stare at the snow-covered ground with snow still falling from the cloudy sky.

I have only just arrived in Auschwitz, Poland, and I already feel exhilarated. Surrounding me are old, rundown buildings in a row of 4 on either side of me, before which are yards upon yards of old barbed wire fences that are starting to fall over in front of me. I turn around and now in front of me is a large metal gate with a rickety wooden house that amazes me on how it's still standing. Above the metal gate are written the words: 'Arbeit Macht Frei.' I did not study much German since I decided to drop it halfway through and learn a much more useful language like Spanish, but I do know enough German to understand what the message is saying: 'Work Sets You Free.' Now that is a truly sick joke right there, giving the inmates false hope that they will leave, only to suffer atrocities even the Sith of old would be envious of. Even though all of the memorials are still a long distance from where I'm currently standing, along with the Nazi gold and the corpses that had long been removed, the Dark Side still radiates from his place like nowhere else I have ever been, not even on Mandalore was this intense. And that planet is where millions of their people were killed in the numerous wars, so that is saying something indeed. The feeling of being here is the most amazing thing I've felt since I kissed Dap on Christmas Day, but the darkness here is unrestrained, radiating from the very ground itself. Out of the corner of my eye, I notice a very faint series of scratches on the concrete building to my right that make up a phrase, but it's too smudged to make out in detail.

With that, I come to a conclusion. This place would be absolutely brilliant to use for building a Sith Academy in the same style as the Jedi Temple on Corusant. Now, I will have to tear down some of these buildings, but I will personally make sure many relics rightfully remain so no one forgets the Nazis and the creative evils they had unleashed on the world decades ago.

Slowly, I drop down to 1 knee and gently set the triangular holocron on the ground, and pushing the activation button. As the holocron pops open and hums to life, I wipe the snow out of my face and bow in respect when the hologram of Darth Malak appears. He looks all around him, his eyes widening in shock with each second that passes. "The Dark Side…it's so strong here." He then turns to look back at me. "You were wise to pick this place. Now, for the Sith trial, I want you to meditate on the Dark Side like you always do. But unlike the last times you have done this, the Dark Side will know that you are ready for your trial, and it will send you into a vision. Only if you think like a Sith and show no mercy to those who stand against you will you succeed. But be warned. You will make a sacrifice, you will be broken in some way before victory comes."

"I'm not afraid of what's to come, and I will use my power to win this day. Through power, I gain victory." With those last words, I sink to the ground and get into a meditative position and close my eyes.

The raw power of the Dark Side swirls around me, penetrating my very soul and I feel myself being whisked away from reality itself. I can feel the very world swirling around me before I feel myself slam into the ground.

Screams and the sounds of battle rage in my ears, as well as the acrid smell of smoke and burning flesh, and my eyes shoot open at the strange sensations. I am lying on my left side on the grassy side of a hill, and when I sit up, I notice the battle around me. The spot I am lying on is the only peaceful piece of land as everything else is torn up. On the very hill I am at, scorch marks from wizards' spells and blaster shots dot the landscape, and several spots of grass are coated red from blood. Before me is the corpse of a soldier wearing the black roman-themed armor with the bird mask lying on the ground, the corpse of a witch in front of the other corpse and bleeding badly from the blaster rifle that is sticking out of her stomach.

Another scream rings out and I force myself to look up. Before me are 6 giant walkers, about 30 feet tall and colored like desert sand, the giant turret on top of its bulging back blazing dark blue plasma shots that strike farther up the hill, with a makeshift base underneath it, with more soldiers firing their plasma shots from their rifles in that same direction. Looking in the direction, I notice the once-majestic castle of Hogwarts, already damaged from the assault under an overcast sky. The bridge in the distance is already crumbling and the Quidditch field is a roaring inferno, with more corpses of wizards with smoldering pits in their stomachs or missing heads and soldiers dotting the landscape, some of their bodies disfigured or lying at odd angles. Already, the Black Lake is tinted a dark red from all the streams of blood flowing into it. I'm pretty sure that most, if not all, living beings in there are dead from the surge of contamination that puts the Simpsons movie's lake polluting to shame. Up at the castle, I see several witches and wizards running around, shooting red spells at the soldiers, who either run away from the onslaught or dodge to the side and continue their assault. The interesting part: I notice that several Death Eaters in their full attire are at the castle as well, working with another group of wizards who are wearing green shirts and camouflage pants under deep green wizarding robes as they secure the castle's perimeter or in some cases, run from the walkers' plasma shots that are tearing up the ground.

Using the Force, I sense that most, if not all, wizards are trapped inside Hogwarts, with some on the Astronomy tower acting as lookouts. Luckily, I already know what to do to end this. Since this is a Sith trial, I will most likely be tasked with killing all of the wizards and winning this battle. Hogwarts is a safe haven, a place where wizards could feel safe for centuries. While I will keep the real Hogwarts intact, for this trial though, the castle will become their tomb.

Knowing what to do, I stand up quickly and run towards the makeshift command center covered by dark blue tarps, my dark blue robes billowing around me as I run. Under the tent is Pre Vizsla himself conversing with Draco, except that Draco is wearing a white button down shirt with a long white cloak billowing around him with the collar sticking up the way Dracula has it in the movies. But when Draco notices me, he stops talking and salutes me. Vizsla turns around and once he notices me, he salutes as well. "My Emperor." He said, dropping his hand. For some reason, I sense nervousness from him.

"Vizsla. Report." I say bluntly. I don't have time for pleasantries.

"My Emperor, the battle is turning to the wizards' favor. Even with Herpo's help, the combined might of that fake lord Voldemort and Dumbledore are keeping us from entering the castle. We are losing men fast and…I'm sorry, but Empress Greengrass has been captured by the wizards."

I clench both my fists and rage flows through my body at that idea, ignoring the odd named man and the fact that Voldemort is back. I don't care about that; this trial is about to get much more murderous. "All right. I am changing the battle strategy. I am personally going to join this battle and punch a hole through the wizards' ranks. I want all troops and the walkers to remain at a distance to give me cover fire. Destroy that bridge and make sure every witch and wizard is trapped inside the castle. Once the great wizards fall, no one will know how to open the wards around Hogwarts. Use the walkers and every ounce of plasma we got to make the castle fall on itself, killing them all."

The duo look at each other then both nod in unison. "Very well. I shall relay those orders to the men. Good luck, my Emperor. If you want help, find Herpo. He is certainty efficient at killing their scum and keeping those damn Dementors off our backs." Draco responds.

I nod then walk out of the tent, before running as fast as my legs can take me up the bloodied and torn-up hill. "You will pay for trying to end the pureblood ways." A cold, high-pitched and hissing voice says nearby and watch as a squad of 20 soldiers in a roman-style tortoise formation get blasted back by a wave of concentrated Force. There, walking towards the groaning men, is Voldemort himself. And oh my, he looks like a Sith! Like seriously, his skin is abnormally pale, gleaming red eyes that are stripped of any humanity and he has no nose anymore, only snake-like slits for nostrils.

He lifts his slender hand holding his wand and points it at the soldiers. But before he could say the infamous Avada Kedavra, I send a wave of the Dark Side at Snake Face, hoping to use pain to send him sprawling. He winces in pain, but then whirls on me. I activate my lightsaber, which now burns with a cherry red color. He laughs maniacally, all traces of humanity stripped from his voice, before sending a killing curse at me. I leap high into the air, doing a few front flips on my trip, then once I land behind him, slash upward. Voldemort screams in pain, a sound that's somehow worse than his laughing, as his wand arm falls to the ground, bleeding. "I will kill you!" He roars then lifts his stump of an arm, hoping to do some wandless magic. But I am quicker, dashing to his side and using my momentum to lunge forward, my lightsaber in both my hands to deliver a brutal strike. He never had the chance to utter another word once I pass by him, severing his head off in a single swipe, which lands next to me as I land on the ground. Slowly, Voldemort's body falls to the ground, joining the dead.

"Well done, my Emperor." Another hissing voice, but this one holding maybe more malice in it, says. I whirl around and come face-to-face with someone I never thought I would see in the flesh ever. He is wearing long black robes like the Death Eaters wear, except he's not wearing his mask so I can see him perfectly. In his pale hands is a long metal staff shaped like a giant green cobra. The top of his head is bald but hair even whiter than Draco's fall down on the sides of his head and stretches into a long beard, but it isn't as long as Dumbledore's. The part that stands out to me are his cold, yellow eyes that are reptilian like in nature. I've read 'Secrets of the Darkest Art' and it states that a person who is reborn from using a Horcrux gains some snake-like attributes. It also gives a picture of his man, the man who invented the 1st Horcrux.

"Herpo…" I state, completely in awe that the greatest true dark wizard and probably the child of a Dark Jedi, is standing before me.

"My Emperor. I shall hold my ground here." Herpo says, snapping me out of my awe-struck state. Just then, I hear a battle cry and turn around to see a centaur running at me, a long and sharp pike pointed at me as he charges. Using the Force, I grip my activated lightsaber and thrust it forward like a javelin. The centaur screams in pain as the blade pierces his heart before collapsing to the ground at my feet.

I hear a smashing sound and notice that 2 giants ambushing a walker in the distance. "Go. Defend the walkers and order the men to fall back." He nods and runs to the giants, who destroyed the walker and are moving on to deal with the others.

"For the Wizarding World! Charge!" A feminine voice shouts and I look up to see several wizards charging at me, wands billowing around them as they cast spells at me. Leading them is Hermione Granger, wearing that same strange fusion of wizarding and muggle clothes. I look down and as I grab my lightsaber, I notice the pike just lying there on the ground. I grin as a sick idea pours through my mind. I deactivate my lightsaber and grab the pike, pointing it at the charging wizards. Just then, a wave of the Dark Side is sent to the oncoming attackers, who scream and start wobbling around, pain in their voices. Absently realizing that Herpo was the one who sent that mass Cruciatus curse that my opponents as a side-effect of attacking the giants, I charge forward to the ranks. Before they could set up any kind of defense, I ram the pike into a boy I recognize as that annoying Hufflepuff Justin Finch-Fletchly. I rip it out of his chest and start swinging it around, dodging each swipe so I don't cut myself accidentally. With each slash, I cut the robes of one of the wizards or slash just right to make them start bleeding and fall to the ground, clutching their open wounds. "You will lose this battle." Hermione roars in anger, sending a green curse at me. I duck under the attack and stab upwards. It pierces her chest and goes out her spine.

"What a shame. You seem to have wised up from the last time we met. I could have used someone like you as an Admiral." I respond, honestly realizing just now that Hermione is clever enough to formulate battle strategies that would give me a leg up in my eventual fight against the Republic, and loyal to a fault to someone she looks up to. Hermione starts coughing, blood coming out of her mouth, before she goes limp. Deciding that I don't need it anymore, I drop the pike to the ground and watch, past the still-burning Quidditch Field, as giant bombs are launched from the walkers' mouths, with the heads shaped like a camel's, and hit the bridge. A bright green fire shoots out and spreads quicker than normal fire, causing the whole bridge to collapse in mere seconds. The wizards who are defending the bridge either get caught in the fire and die or they die from the fall. As another effect, a giant that was hiding under the bridge, preparing to ambush my troops, is crushed as well. A thought runs through my back of my mind and I grin wickedly. Is this the power I want my Empire to possess, or is it true that in the future, Herpo the Foul will be reborn and my people will finally find the recipe to make Greek fire?

However, the Force screams in warning to me and I reactivate my lightsaber to block the strike of a long, curved, silver sword with the hilt studded with rubies. "Albus. So good of you to join me in this bloodbath. I have tickets for a front row seat if you so desire." I said with a sickeningly sweet tone in my voice as I face the aging headmaster of Hogwarts. But the regret and fire behind his blue eyes behind his half-moon spectacles are shining brightly.

"I'm not afraid of you, Harry. I'm sorry, but for the Wizarding World to survive, you and your men must die." He responds coldly.

I, however, push against him, my volcanic eyes glowing with power. "You should be afraid of me. You set me on this path, and now I shall destroy all that you love." I say sweetly then snarl, using the distraction to lift my right leg up and kick at Dumbledore's legs. Dumbledore loses his balance, but uses his magic to propel himself back a few feet, barely avoiding landing on a corpse of one of my soldiers, and after charging at me again, we start dueling with everything we have. The magic of Dumbledore's sword is keeping it from melting upon contact with my lightsaber. Dumbledore is a surprisingly effective fighter, his decades of experience allowing him to keep up with my brutal slashes as a result of holding my blade with both hands. But his age is also keeping him from gaining any worrisome edge over me, and I can tell with the way he's holding his sword that he hasn't fought with it in years. Just then, I hear a shrill screeching sound and I notice that blasted phoenix Fawkes flying towards me on my right, talons at the ready. Quickly, I formulate a plan to prepare for Fawkes and just as the Phoenix is about to rake me across the face, I step back and use the Force to pull Dumbledore with me. He winces in pain as Fawkes' talons bury themselves into his arm. Taking advantage of the pause, I redirect my lightsaber then thrust it forward.

As I hoped, the blade pierces Dumbledore's stomach. He gasps in shock, looking at me, before sliding off the blade and onto the ground, the light extinguished from his eyes. Fawkes pulls its talons out of Dumbledore, but I slash my lightsaber in a quick motion, making the Phoenix explode in a pile of ash. But before it can settle, I use the Force to grab the dust and thrust it into the contaminated lake, preventing any rebirth. I let out a sigh of relief, wiping the sweat off my face. "My Emperor." A voice said. I look at my right arm and only now notice the wrist communicator strapped there, and Vizsla flares to life. "Any possible way that the wizards could escape are now cut off. They have nowhere to go."

"Light Hogwarts up. I'll make sure they remain trapped and have a front row seat of your results." I respond, closing the transmission when I hear another battle cry. I look and notice an angry Fleur Delacour running at me. Like she could have foam forming in her mouth mad, as she casts spells of all kinds at me. The most interesting part is that her eyes are burning bright yellow instead of her normal blue.

"You killed my sister! You killed my parents and my friends. So I will kill you the way I killed that bitch, Daphne." She says, anger radiating from her. My eyes widen as I feel the strength of the Dark Side. Fleur's strength in the Force is much stronger than I thought. If I can play my hand right, I can make her turn that strength into power, through which all chains to her former friends and the world that is becoming increasingly archaic are broken. But now, it doesn't matter.

I lift my lightsaber, the blade absorbing the projectile spells thrown at me as Fleur walks forward me while the walkers bombard the castle walls with Greek Fire bombs, causing a few walls to start crumbling and collapse inward. Fleur then holds her wand out and uses a pushing spell, temporarily knocking me off balance.

Taking advantage of my pause, Fleur lifts her wand up and murmurs something I can't hear. Her wand then shoots out a black spell that impacts with my left arm, around the center of my left forearm. I shout in pain as I can only watch while the flesh and most of my muscles are blasted from my arm, exposing the bone underneath. The pain is unlike anything I have felt before. I close my eyes and sink into the Dark Side, calling upon its indomitable might. Strength like I have never felt before surges through me and I glare at Fleur. Using my new strength, I concentrate the Force on my left arm, which instantly starts responding to my movements again. The skeletal arm punches Fleur in the face, sending her sprawling. In her moment of weakness, I use my skeletal arm, and squeeze. Fleur starts gagging, trying to get air into her lungs. Not wanting her to suffer anymore, I clench the fist. Her neck snaps completely and she collapses to the ground.

I stare at the castle for several seconds, as the soldiers and walkers unload their plasma onto Hogwarts, which completely collapses on itself. I fail to notice the screams of the wizards as they try to escape the trap they set for themselves, or see Hailey and Ronald try to lead the escapees on the west side, only to get crushed to death by a stone pillar. "I've seen some amazing shit in my life, but this takes the cake." I state with giddiness in my voice. With that final massacre, the trial is now over. Just then, the very world around me swirls like a kaleidoscope and everything goes black.

A cold feeling settle in my body again, and I know for a fact that I am back in the real world. I open my eyes to see the completely black sky, still cloudy but the snow has stopped falling. "Most impressive." Malak's voice said. I turn my head to look at the holocron, which is now flickering slightly. Malak stares at me with a look that is as close to awe as I've ever seen from him. "I have seen many Sith in my time; most of them rushing into the fray, thirsty for the blood of Jedi but without thinking about a strategy to make it happen. But you…you managed to use your surroundings and pull your soldiers from losing a battle to winning it with an efficiency I have not seen in a long time. I can now proclaim you a true Sith. From this day forth, you shall be known as Darth…Kadabra, for all those who stand in your way shall meet a grisly demise."

I, Darth Kadabra, bow in gratitude to the holocron that has taught me the ways of the Sith for years. But something doesn't feel right with my left forearm. I look there, and to my shock, the severe injury that Fleur gave me is still there, the muscles hanging loosely from my arm. "As a gift for becoming a true Sith, the Dark Side shall fix what was broken and make you stronger than you could possibly imagine." Malak says, then lifts his right hand towards me. The Dark Side swirls violently around the holocron then flies towards my arm. I nearly scream in agony when the Dark Side starts wrapping itself around my arm, and suddenly, the muscles start contracting, stretching out to wrap across my arm and start turning a dark brown color and wrinkled, giving it a deformed yet demonic look. With a crack of pain, I can feel my bones crack and pull itself out of my forearm, forming 2 spikes, one on each side, that curves towards my hand, where my fingers grow another 2 inches easily and my fingernails, which grow another half inch, sharpen themselves into blades that could easily cut flesh apart. I stare at the new arm, wasting several long moments to stare at it with amazement, the Dark Side pulsing through my new arm. For some reason, it feels much more connected to the Dark Side than any other part of my body.

"Thank you." I tell the holocron.

"No. I should thank you for starting down this path and becoming a Darth. Avenge me and strip the galaxy of the Jedi. I am at your new Empire's service, especially those who hold dear. While the Dark Side gives you strength, do not let it consume you the way it did me. It clouded me enough for my former master to finish me. Don't let that happen." With that, the hologram fizzles out of existence, and the holocron snaps back up.

With that, the world goes silent. I stare it for several more seconds before I let out a shrill, maniacal laugh that cuts through the cold wind. I stop laughing when I hear explosions go off behind me. What is Vizsla doing?! I whirl around and notice that they are not explosions from battle, they are fireworks. My anger dissipates and I instead grin wickedly once again at this implication.

It is the start of the year 1995, the year I, Darth Kadabra, will be free of the Wizarding World and set them on the path of their own destruction. But that trial also has me thinking that there is much that I have yet to learn about my enemies, and continuously weaken them if the invasion is going to go my way.

* * *

 _AN:_ Well, that turned out as good as I hoped. I could have added much more, but I felt that it was going too far.

Anyway, see you all next time after a major time skip that will end at the Second Task. The good parts have yet to come, and I want to get to them.

Have a nice day, everyone!


	13. Chapter 13: The Second Task

**January 1st**

 **1995**

 **12:15 am Corusant time**

 **Jedi High Council Chamber**

 **Corusant**

* * *

 **3** **rd** **person POV:**

* * *

Jedi Master Yoda is sitting alone in the High Council chamber, meditating on the Force. Something has made the Force become cloudy, hard to focus on for several years. Only complete mavericks and the most focused Jedi Masters can maintain the complete connection to the Force they once possessed.

As Yoda is meditating, the Force screams in absolute pain, reeking of darkness and hatred. Yoda immediately manipulates the Force to reveal who is behind the mass of Dark Side energy. After a few seconds, he feels a strong presence in the center of the storm and a sense of dread fills the Grandmaster: Harrison Peverell. He had personally seen the growth of the young human boy who had a reputation of not exactly following the Jedi code, but he treated the masters with respect, so no one complained.

That is, until he and the mandalorian terrorists known only as Death Watch bombed the Senate building and attacked the Jedi hangar, killing dozens of Republic civilians, Senate guards and Jedi on that fateful day. Everyone expected them to go on a rampage across the galaxy, but they just disappeared altogether. No one has the slightest clue as to where they went, even after all this time and the Jedi High Council's members are personally joining the investigation. The worst side effect was that Count Dooku had renounced the Jedi and left long ago, and numerous star systems in the Republic are starting to grow discontent, especially since Death Watch's bold attack and the feeling that they are not being treated with respect.

Unfortunately, before Yoda could track which planet the signature came from, the Dark Side hides the signature from his view. Yoda opens his eyes and looks out at the city-planet of Corusant, letting out a long sigh. He knows that Peverell is on the move, but what is up to?

For now, all Yoda can do is wait and see what his former student's next move will be.

* * *

 **12:15 am Corusant time**

 **Supreme Chancellor Palpatine's Office**

 **Corusant**

* * *

Darth Sidious also stares out at the city, with the skyscrapers glowing brightly against the night sky. He had been meditating on the Dark Side of the Force in his office, basking in its strength. Then the Force started fluctuating strangely, dancing in excitement like he had never felt it. He stretched his senses out into the Force when he felt the presence of the young ex-Jedi who was responsible for the deaths of numerous people.

Sidious's eyes widen as he senses the presence, and tries to locate the missing traitor, roaming his presence across the thousands of planets in the galaxy. But he is shocked when the senses the Dark Side fighting against him, whispering in his ear that the time is not right.

Sighing in resignation, he pulls out of the Dark Side and goes back to staring at the mega city with widened eyes. Whatever Harrison Peverell is up to will either help or hinder Sidious's end plans. He gets the feeling that no help will come from the ex-Jedi and all he can do is to continue waiting.

* * *

 **12:35 pm Earth time**

 **February 24th**

 **Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry**

 **Scotland, Europe**

 **Earth**

* * *

 **Harrison Peverell's POV:**

* * *

The next step on my road to being done with Hogwarts has finally come: The Triwizard Tournament's Second Task.

For the last few months, I have been going over British wizarding laws and consulting Draco on the Ministry's attitude and the law's loopholes, and they both agree that I can "home-school" myself until the OWLs roll around, in which I must go to the Ministry to take. But essentially, after this year, I will not be coming back to Hogwarts. I will make sure my apprentices come to my manor and train there. Of course, it might need some traps, hidden rooms and something else to make it work.

I have also been monitoring the progress of Peverell Corporation, which has only been around for over 2 months, and business is already rolling. Several European countries, such as the British Isles, have been testing the weapons and buying them in large masses for their military powers. Eventually, word will reach the United States of America and other major countries of my corporation's high quality weaponry and they will flock to it.

To top it all off, I am now experimenting with offensive Dark Side-powered powers from my new arm that I nicknamed the Demon's Hand. The power that is now at my fingers is fantastic. I can already summon balls of pure black energy that can vaporize any being and after trials in the Room of Requirement, I determined that for the larger threats like dragons, more energy needs to be concentrated. The only downside of the arm is that while my Force illusions are making it look like a regular arm, it takes much more concentration than what I'm used to just to make it happen.

But now that lunch is done, the Champions of the Champions and I are being led by Professor McGonagall as we walk down to the Black Lake. Already, 3 large wooden platforms are floating on the Lake's surface.

The long stroll passes in silence. We each get into the boat, 2 people per boat. Me and Fleur take the last boat and glide across the water's surface to our destination. While I still love Dap for her persistence when it comes to any problem set out for her and willingness to do anything if her friends or family is in danger, I don't mind being in Fleur's company. She is also a lot stronger than I originally gave her credit for, so the ride isn't as awkward as I thought it could be.

"So, what do you think we will have to retrieve in the Task?" I ask with an airy tone, hoping to alleviate my growing tension. When I got back to Hogwarts, I was so busy with watching Peverell Corporation's growth, completely run by my people so no one would spill my secrets to the public, that I didn't even bother trying to solve the riddle of my Golden Egg. I just stalked Cedric for a few days before dunking it under the water in the Prefect's bathroom. So when he left, I also got in the water and also managed to open the egg. The only thing that's making me wary right now is what Dumbledore considers who's most valuable to me.

"Eh don't know. It deepends on what Dumbledore theenks ees most valuable to us and traps set up there." Fleur responds, and despite her straight face, she's really scared. And for good reason, too. Fleur is a quarter Veela, and Veela are known for having some connection to fire. So yeah, a person with Veela blood in the middle of a lake known for hosting all sorts of strange life does not bode well for her.

Look, I may be a Sith and want the death of millions, but I want to be the one who ends them. So if Fleur gets herself into trouble, I will just have to save her sorry ass. Unless… I can make this task serve me, test her mettle and see if she's worth anything. "Don't worry, Fleur. I have faith that you will succeed. All you need to do is to trust your instincts and let your magic flow. If you can manage to do that, not much is impossible." I made sure to carefully select those words, aside from sounding supportive. Essentially, I am telling her that since someone close to her is used as a hostage for this game, she will no doubt get angry, so I will use the Dark Side to tempt her with its power. As for if she takes up that power…that's up to her. But with how I saw Fleur in my Sith trial, it's not out of the question.

She looks at me with a stunned look for several seconds before at the bottom of the boat, musing over my words. "Eh see. Thank you." She says with a warm smile. I feel her Veela allure trying to press into my mind, but I quickly form a barrier to keep it from acting like all the other weak-minded buffoons who are affected.

After another few moments, the boats dock on the platform and we all get off. Before us are several long wooden planks that stretch out over the surface. It's looking more and more like we have to jump into a lake in the middle of February. These people have lost their minds. But before I can muse on anything else, Ludo Bagman's voice bellows across the Lake's surface, the Sonorous charm greatly magnifying his voice.

"Ladies and Gentlemen! Boys and girls! I give you the Second Task great, the fabulous, Triwizard Tournament! If you're from Hogwarts, give me a cheer!" All of the students from Hogwarts start cheering loudly then silence after a few moments. I look back at the crowd and my eyes widen when I notice something off: Dap isn't in the crowd! "If you're from Durmstrang, give me a cheer!" The students of the Bulgarian school start cheering loudly as well. "If you're from Beauxbatons, give me a cheer!" All of the French students join in on the cheering before silence reigns. "Today, for the Second Task, you will be retrieving a hostage from the bottom of the Black Lake. But be warned, you will meet opposition along the way. You have 1 hour to retrieve the thing that matters most to you and if you manage to do so, you will proceed to the Third Task! Champions, you may walk onto the planks."

With those words, I cast off the robes I was wearing and since I knew water was involved, I may or may not have walked out of Hogwarts in the night a week ago to buy some dark blue swim trunks for this Task. I walk out onto the plank with the other champions on either side of me. Slowly, I look around me and assess my competition. Krum is also wearing swim trunks, only the yellow of Hufflepuff, Fleur is wearing a rather skimpy silver bikini, and since Krum's on her right, I can't see him. The boys were drooling at Fleur as usual and I feel the eyes of some girls checking me out. Admittedly, constantly doing the exercises the Jedi do to keep themselves in shape has given me from pretty noticeable muscles. A small, chilling breeze blows across the surface, a taste of the cold that's about to come. In my Demon's Hand is my lightsaber disguised as a wand, just as a precaution.

"Good luck, and may the best Champion emerge victorious! Go!*" With those last words, we all jump into the lake feet first. I could just stand there and use the Force to pull Dap to me, but really, that would shatter some of the cover I have worked so hard to build. Besides, what kind of Sith would I be if I didn't try to challenge myself once in a while? The second my body completely plunges into the water; the temperature hits me like a brick to the face. Damn, it's cold!

But I use the Dark Side to reach my senses out, and sense where the hostages are being held. When I find Dap's Force signature, I use the Dark Side form an air bubble around my head so I can continue breathing. With that done, I start swimming to the bottom of the Black Lake and glide along the bottom. That is, until I feel something pulling at me. I look down, and to my shock, little creatures with long, spindly fingers, a pulled face and yellow skin. 'Grindylows! This is going to be fun.' I think, then change my lightsaber to my right hand and drop the illusion on my left arm. Then, using the moment the little creatures stare at it with wonder, I concentrate the Dark Side through it, wanting to tear them apart.

In the palm of my hand, a ball of concentrated energy forms and floats there, waiting for my command. Knowing what to do, I throw it at the Grindylows. The little buggers didn't stand a chance as they screech in terror and disintegrate into nothing. I hear a faint gasp and look to my left, noticing a mermaid looking at me with a look that betrays her fear. I smirk and lift the Demon's Hand, using the Force to pull her to me. She screams slightly as she is pulled forward, but can't get much out before I use my long fingernails and plunge them into her brain. She stills after a few seconds. I pull them out and for good measure, slash her neck open. I swim away, ignoring the blood that's now spilling in the water, clouding it even more than it already is.

After several tense minutes of swimming on the floor of the Black Lake, wary of any more Grindylows, I finally arrive at the mermen village. If the houses are hollowed-out rocks that have holes in the sides that resemble doors and windows. All around, merpeople are swimming and watching me with angry expressions, obviously holding distain over wizarding society. Not that I blame them for the British wizarding world's incompetent Ministry. Several yards beyond the village is a large boulder that towers over everything else. In front of the rock, held down by rusty-looking chains, are the 4 hostages. Judging by the fact that all 4 people are still there, I am the first to arrive to the destination.

With new determination, I swim to the 3rd person on the right, who is Daphne. After I reach her, I give the chain a quick look. It might look old, but I can sense the Force fluctuating through the chains to make it much harder to shatter than they normally would. Nothing a good heating of the chains can't fix. As if deciding now is the time to strike, the merpeople start swimming at me, in an attempt to make my challenge harder. I whirl around and lift my lightsaber up, preparing for a fight. But apparently, the merpeople are terrified of magic, mainly because the second they see my wand, their eyes widen in terror and swim off in every direction and hide in their homes without even looking out the window to see what happens next. Except for one brave merman who charges at me with a trident. I shrug then use the Force to pull the trident from his hand and grab his throat with my new arm. I squeeze with all my might, enhanced by the Dark Side, and I feel the bones crack in his neck before I let go, allowing the corpse to drift aimlessly in the water. I turn around, ignoring what I just did, and concentrate the Dark Side through the Demon's Hand again. The metal starts heating up, turning a bright red while it loosens up considerably. Now that its grip is weaker, I manage to find places to sink my hands into the shackles and pull with all my might, ripping the chains apart and allowing Dap to slowly start floating up to the surface, robes billowing around her. Wrapping an arm around her waist, I start swimming to the surface with the intention of being done with this task.

Just then, the Dark Side fluctuates around me in a strange manner. Something is about to happen. I look to the left, and to my immense shock, Fleur Delacour, with a Bubblehead charm around her head, is whirling around in the water, casting spells left and right that blast any Grindylows unfortunate enough to separate her from her little sister. Some of them retreat immediately while others are struck by powerful magic she is throwing around and they start their escape, deep gashes on various parts of their bodies before they even have a chance to fight back. For the first time today, I smile in glee and if anyone is watching me, they would see my Sith side appear for a split second before the illusions regain their strength and return me to my normal appearance. Fleur has just gotten her first taste of the Dark Side, albeit a very small one. And if she's going to be worth my time and attention, she needs to be able to kill without mercy. I can't make her do it if she's worth this trouble; she needs to do it willingly.

Then, when Fleur finishes off her opponents and looks around for any stragglers, I notice Krum starting to make his way to us. The only difference from the last time I laid eyes on the Bulgarian champion is that while he was completely human then, he made himself half shark now! For a Quidditch Superstar, he's not that bright…if he thinks transfiguring himself into a shark without knowing how to change himself back is a good idea. Honestly, I am fairly sure that McGonagall has some fear of botching up the reverse of self-transfiguration, so what makes him think that he could pull it off?

Shaking my head and mumbling about stupid Quidditch players, I break the surface of the Black Lake, the ring of air the Dark Side formed around my head to keep me alive with oxygen that was starting to feel stale in my lungs dissipating. Daphne starts gasping for air, her blue eyes wide with surprise. "W-W-What…?" She gets out, only now feeling how cold she is. Then the people notice that we have re-emerged and start cheering for us. She looks at the crowd, absolutely confused, then notices me next to her. She starts blushing deeply as a result, then looks angry. "What's going on?" She demands, ice in her voice already.

"Later." I whisper, then we start swimming to the edge of the platform, where we are pulled out of the water by the closest witches and wizards and blue blankets are wrapped around our shoulders.

"Congratulations, Mr. Peverell. You managed to complete the Second Task faster than any of your fellow champions. Your ranking will be given momentarily." McGonagall tells me curtly, but a small smile is on her face, as she turns around and goes back to watching the lake for when everyone else emerges. As a precaution, I put a simple Force shield around us no one can overhear our conversation.

"Now I will tell you what just happened. You were a hostage held by the merpeople at the bottom of the Black Lake for this Task." I tell Dap once we are alone, no one's paying any attention to us and I am getting my robes back on. Of course, I whisper it in her ear in case any particularly nosy people like Hailey or Rita Skeeter try eavesdropping on us again. Now that is an interesting piece of news that is big talk in the Daily Prophet right now. They are talking about the 'disappearance' of Rita Skeeter and a major award is being offered to anyone who has knowledge on where she is. But additionally and surprising even to me, Barty Crouch Sr. seems to have dropped off the face of the planet as well during the Yule Ball. A part of me in the back of my mind already suspects that Faker had something to do with it. Note to self: Break into his mind to see what he knows and what the Dark Lord plans to do for the final task.

"Well, that's certainly motive to do the best you can in this tournament." She responds dryly, a slightly wary look on her face. "To answer your question, before the task, Dumbledore summoned me to his office. When I got there, I found that Cho, Hermione and some girl I don't know the name of who looks like Fleur were already there. He just said that we were going to have a talk and asked us to drink some water. Next I know, I'm here. Wait a second, why would Dumbledore pick me of all people to be your…damsel, I guess? Aside from Draco, no one knows about us."

I shake my head in honest confusion, "I don't know. Maybe it's just because in public, we are friendlier to each other than we are to anyone else. Remind me never to underestimate his intellect again."

Daphne lets out a small laugh, but before we can converse any further, the witches and wizards on the platform start cheering again. Curious, I look up and watch the surface of the lake. Sure enough, Fleur had re-emerged from the lake with Gabrielle in her arms. The 2 start swimming to the platforms as well when Cedric emerges from the lake, with my fellow Ravenclaw Cho Chang in his arms. She's…annoying to be around, to say the least. Always talking about Quidditch and her pride at being the only female member of the Ravenclaw Quidditch team and acting like she can do anything. Honestly, her courage is admirable, but she is too proud for any potential value to be worth anything and without the means to make her motivation happen, she's just an annoying bug like Rita. And she will be treated as such.

As Cedric is pulled out of the water, Krum emerges, still in shark form like I had originally guessed. But the real surprise is that his hostage, Hermione Granger of all people, is lying on top of Krum, held in place by the giant grey shark fin in the middle of his back. Okay, I have to give him credit on that; that's a good idea. Numerous people gasp in shock at what Victor did to himself.

Yeah, a half man/half shark being is not something you see every day. As they are pulled over to the last platform, McGonagall starts waving her wand around in an attempt to revert the Durmstrang champion back to a normal man as Hermione is settled on the platform.

Once Victor's botching is straightened out and he too is pulled from water, I watch as Dumbledore talks with the other judges, the stuck-up, ass-kissing, half-witted, shisno-eating bastard known as Percy Weasley; even as a child, I remember him quite well since he was the only one of the Weasley children who not only supported, but adored the actions of the Ministry. So yeah, I have a major bone to pick with him. After several minutes of talking, Dumbledore turns around to where he's facing the lake, quickly casting a Sonorous charm at his own throat. With his magnified voice, he addresses the gathered crowd. "Ladies and gentlemen! I give congratulations to our champions who managed to persevere through terrifying odds to complete the Second Task. Before we all go back to the castle to get warmed up, I would like to make some quick announcements. The Third Task of the Triwizard Tournament will be held on June 24th. Also, I will announce the rankings of the champions, as it will affect how they perform in the task. In 1st place, is Harrison Peverell. In 2nd place is Fleur Delacour. In 3rd place is Cedric Diggory, and in 4th place is Victor Krum. Good luck to the champions for the final task."

Everyone starts cheering loudly once again for Dumbledore's speech and soon, the platforms start floating back to the banks of the Black Lake. Once they are beached, everyone gets off and they start talking nonstop about the Task; how we managed to retain oxygen underwater, what manner of challenges we had to face, stuff like that. Quite frankly, seeing them talking about it and coming up with the stupidest theories ever on it is amusing to listen to.

As we are walking up to the castle, Fleur walks towards me. "Harry, can eh speak with you?"

"Of course. Dap, you can go up to the castle." I tell my secret girlfriend and walk over to Fleur, who walks far enough away to where the crowds have no chance of hearing us talk. "So, how did you do?"

She looks down at the ground, shivering a little. Although I don't think she's shivering from the cold water on her skin. "Eh just wanted to talk with you about the advice you gave me. When eh was ambushed by those foul creatures, eh felt…something. Eet called to me, telling me to let go and go with my instincts. Eh did so, and my sister ees safe now. Thank you for the advice, but eh also wanted to tell you something's wrong. Eh feel…cold inside. Do you know what eet ees?"

I quirk an eyebrow the more she explains her situation. So she did give in to the Dark Side, felt the amazing power she could use. But for right now, I have to feign ignorance so she can trust me more. "I don't know. Maybe it's just the temperature of the Lake. If I find out the cause, I will make sure to tell you about."

She smiles kindly at me, her Veela allure spreading around her, but thanks to my connection to the Dark Side, I prevent the allure from affecting my mind. "Thank you. You are truly braver than any other wizard I have met." With those last words and, to my surprise, a kiss on the cheek, she runs off to catch up with her friends.

I shake my head in exasperation, then continue my trek back to the castle. On the inside, I am grinning in triumph. She just reminded me of yet another idea I have in mind to weaken the wizarding world so the mandalorian army's job is much easier. Considering the fact that my top-secret project is finally starting to take off, they need some pressure taken off of them or else inevitable fights will start breaking out. Some are already complaining about living in an underground city without any real fighting, but that will change in the not-too-distant future.

For now, I need to stoke the flames of the deep hatred that lives inside the muggleborns.

* * *

 _AN:_ Thank goodness that this chapter is done. Out of all the chapters that feature more action later, this is definitely not my favorite chapter.

*I know that the announcements and the like are NOT what's in the Goblet of Fire, but I decided to rewrite them just because I felt like it. The same will go for the announcements for the Third Task.

Speaking of the Third Task, I will have a massive time skip next chapter that lands us in the Third Task. Honestly, I have no inspiration for anything to make the gap between its own chapter, so yeah.

Anyway, see you next time when the end of the Triwizard Tournament takes place and the beginning of the end of the wizarding world starts.


	14. Chapter 14: The Third Task

**June 24** **th**

 **1995**

 **8:30 am Earth time**

 **Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry**

 **Scotland, Europe**

 **Earth**

* * *

 **Harrison Peverell's POV:**

* * *

I am so happy right now, I can barely keep it in!

Today is the last day of the Third Task, and tomorrow, the school year here at Hogwarts ends. With that end, I will slip out of the wizarding world's public eye and return to my operations.

After breaking into Faker's mind the day after the Second Task, I discovered that he killed his own father to keep his cover up. That is a really low thing to do, even I admit that. I also learned that as of tonight, the big final step in Lord Voldemort's rise to power will take place. In a nutshell, he had Faker rig the Triwizard Cup and turn it into a portkey, transporting me to Voldemort and allowing him to use my blood in a bizarre ritual that will revive him. Not a bad plan at all, but…seriously? The fact that he's _so_ confident that his plan will succeed that he doesn't have any form of backup plan in case things so south just lays bare how arrogant the so-called Dark Lord really is.

Especially his thoughts on his precious Horcruxes. As I walk out of my guest chambers, my few possessions already packed and ready to go, my mind drifts to all of the things that have happened since the Second Task. While training with my apprentices in Force Lightning in the Room of Requirement, I sensed a strange presence in there. So, after going to the massive dumping ground of past students, I discover the Diadem of Rowena Ravenclaw, and lashing out to it with the Dark Side, discovered that even more Horcruxes had been made, keeping Voldemort alive all these years. I interrogated the soul shard in the Diadem for knowledge on other Horcruxes, and after making a list of every Horcrux the Death Eater's leader ever made, I destroyed the soul shard. Luckily, I kept the diadem intact since I might have use of it later.

After that day, I've been counting them down. The Diadem is taken care of, the Diary was destroyed by Hailey, the Locket will be taken care of whenever I go to Number 12 Grimmauld Place. Draco told me that his uncle on the Black side, Regulus, was murdered by Voldemort after being declared a traitor, so potential theft of a Horcrux is most likely the reason and thus, is most likely hidden in his house. I believe that it's the Locket he stole because I have an idea on the fate of the others. Voldemort's snake, Nagini, will also be an issue as it's staying with Voldemort, wherever he is, but I can take care of it soon enough. The Ring is in a shack over in Little Hangleton, but I have already left a Dark Side signature there and dead people my soldiers killed to catch Dumbledore's attention and allow him to do my dirty work, and the final one is Helga Hufflepuff's Cup, which was already destroyed. When Draco also told me about the lengths of secrecy his aunt Bellatrix LeStrange nee Black went through to make sure no one knew about it, I gave an anonymous tip to Gringotts that a dark artifact was hidden in their walls. The next day, I received a letter from Griphook speaking on behalf of Gringotts, essentially thanking me for notifying them about the Cup, and that the Horcrux was completely destroyed and the entire vault confiscated as punishment for hiding it in their walls. Considering the strained relationship between goblins and wizards now, I trust that Griphook spoke the truth. If not…well, he had better say his prayers.

Speaking of strained relationships, if the goblin/wizard relationship is sour, the muggleborn/pureblood relationship is only getting worse by the day, with a little help from me. I have been slipping documents to agitated muggleborns, proposed laws by the purebloods to further discriminate the less fortunate muggleborns and evidence of the corrupt dealings at the Ministry for purebloods to continue having their way, some real and some are full of shit but hold a kernel of truth in it. That angered them so much that a group of 20 muggleborns got together and decided that the best way to get payback is to form a terrorist group called the Life Bringers, named to be the exact opposite of the purebloods' Death Eaters. The Life Bringers, with me assisting from the shadows and my corporation selling them weapons, are beginning to hold rallies and recruit more and more muggleborns to their cause. I'm not sure when their first strike will occur, but I will make sure that all of British wizarding society knows it happens.

Last week, Vizsla reported that Peverell Corporation is quickly becoming the world's leading supplier of any and all military weapons. Every country has heard of my company, and even vast countries like Russia are buying my weapons at such rates that my people are starting to have a hard time keeping up. On that day, Vizsla also stated that the galaxy is starting to become split. Numerous star systems are starting to get really agitated with the Republic's state, not on the muggleborns' degree though, and the Trade Federation is backing them. However, the most interesting report came from Jango Fett. He told me, with disgust in his voice I have rarely heard from him, that a single freighter full of space pirates had tried to infiltrate Serenno and what my former master is up to. Dooku personally pulled the freighter to the planet outside his personal palace and after a long battle that costed the lives of 40 of Dooku's bodyguards, half the crew was killed while the other half escaped the massacre and escaped on a civilian transport they hijacked. What made Jango angry was that this was the pirate crew led by Kyle Rey and that it was confirmed that he was killed along with Arla Fett. Dooku never realized that she was Jango's younger sister, and that ignorance only made the bounty hunter more loyal to me than ever before. A much more disturbing part of the report is that after Jango rummaged through the ship's logs after the battle he fought in, he discovered that the notorious Force-sensitive pirate had a mistress on Corusant and they have a son together. I think his name is Sanderos or something along those lines. After I activated my sleeper agent at the Jedi Temple for a very brief while just for information gathering, she revealed to me that a boy about a year old had been brought to the Jedi Temple about 6 months ago and reminded me of a Holonet report that occurred 2 days after he arrived, when someone had rampaged through the streets of Corusant, killing about 200 beings of all species and genders as the attacker also stole a merchant transport and fled the planet altogether. Maybe all these events are connected in some way?

Soon, I reach the entrance to the Great Hall, where the doors are already open and students are already sitting at their respective tables, chatting with each other and doing everything they can involving the Third Task, gambling, debating what violence we will be exposed to, and much more. Honestly, I think the chatter is starting to get annoying fast as I make my way to the Ravenclaw table and help myself to some French toast. I dig into the slices of bread and bananas I put on my plate, ignoring the glares from my little sister's 2 most loyal followers, and a young Ravenclaw named Luna Lovegood. Despite my efforts to maintain the persona of a compassionate, model student so no attention will be drawn to me, those 3, including Hailey, have always been suspicious of me, watching my every move like a hawk about to claim its prey. I have insulted them in Spanish, I hid in the library, I've done everything that I can do that won't draw unwanted attention to me.

As I continue eating my breakfast, sipping on red fruit punch with which I have had an oddly strong hankering for after I became Darth Kadabra, Professor McGonagall walks crisply to my seat. "Mr. Peverell?" She asks, looking directly at me.

"Yes, Professor?" I ask, setting my punch down and looking up at her. She's yet another person I have to be extra-cautious around, since she is definitely one of the smartest witches in Wizarding Britain I have ever known, and if I slip up on anything, then she might be able to figure out all of my plans and blow them to high hell. Luckily, I have a backup plan in case things ever get that bad, unlike some other raving lunatic who's really running this show.

"Your family is here to see you. It is tradition that all Champions reunite with their families before the Third Task in the Triwizard Tournament." McGonagall says in her usual manner.

I was thinking of talking with Neville this morning, see if he is worth training personally as well. But aside from that, I have no other plans. "Please. Lead the way."

McGonagall nods in slight approval, and she walks away. Seeing no reason to stay any longer, I stand up and follow her out of the Great Hall, absently wondering where Hailey is. We walk through the winding stone corridors I have walked through for months now, before we arrive at the Trophy Room, where I notice that Cedric, Fleur and Victor already there, talking with their parents about one thing or another I don't really care about. With a sense of dread, I notice my parents standing on the left side of the room with the Weasley family behind them. Hailey is already there, standing between her mum and Dad. I, however, am lost for words at seeing my parents again. "Harry!" Lily says, running over to me and embracing me in a hug. Just to keep up appearances, I hug her back. She pulls away and looks at me. "Oh, it's so good to see you again."

"It's good to see you too." I lie. Seriously, I'm not sure if I want to face her or the rest of the people I once considered family yet. "But I'm curious as to why the Weasleys are here too." An honest observation. They are not immediate family, but with the way Hailey and Ron look at each other, it might become a reality. But still, why are the parents and their eldest son here is the big question right now.

"We invited them to come along. Since you were close friends with Fred and George when you were younger, we thought they would be happy to come see you. And Bill here wants to see all of his siblings." James answers casually and with a jovial look on his face.

I look between him, Lily and Hailey, trying to find the weak link. I'm not sure what exactly, but I'm absolutely certain there's an ulterior motive to them coming than just to 'see family.' But eh, let's see where this goes. "Ah. So, what have you been up to, Mr. Weasley?" Aside from the twins, Arthur is my favorite member of the family. He at least cares about his work, but has the laid-back attitude that shows he actually cares about others as well, unlike other certain members of his family.

"Nothing much, Harry. Just remembering my days when I was a student here." He responds wistfully. Mrs. Weasley looks a little put off that I ignored her, and Bill been staring at a wall for quite a while. Out of curiosity, I follow his gaze and nearly blink in surprise. Bill Weasley, the Curse-Breaking rebel of the family, is staring at Fleur, who is currently talking with her family. And every once in a while, she would stare at Bill with an interested look for a second or two at a time.

"Yeah, I've had some interesting times here. Well, if you want to go see your family now, you can go see them. I won't stop you." I respond.

"Harry, show some respect." Hailey nearly shouts, glaring at me openly.

"OK, let me set something straight. I am not Harry Potter anymore. I am Harrison Peverell, and you can call me either Harrison or Mr. Peverell." 'Or Darth Kadabra.' I add in my mind, nearly smirking at my title, then continue, "And another thing; you don't respect anyone but yourself."

"Harr-Harrison, please don't say that to your little sister." James says, trying in vain to diffuse the rising tension in the chamber.

"I'm only speaking the truth. I have been stuck with her all school year and she is one of most…stubborn people I have met." I answer. I have much more colorful and condescending things to say regarding Hailey, but I'd rather hold my tongue for now in case any of them come back to bite me in my ass at a later time.

"I admit that she can be stubborn at times, but she's much smarter than you give her credit for. Please, when this school year is done, come home with us. We all miss you." Lily says, almost on her knees and on the verge of tears.

"Yeah, no thanks to your offer. I have a home and friends that actually care about me. Unlike the treatment I received before." I respond with a little venom in my voice, noticing the flinch in my parents' posture. "Don't get me wrong, I don't hate you the way I once did; I just want to stay on the life I have right now. After this Task, I might see you all again, but not for a while. In this day and age, you can never be too careful. Now, I wish you all a good day." With that, I turn around and walk away. Lily looks down on the ground, a worried look on her face. I have no doubt in my mind that James and Lily, especially Lily, would have heard of the Life Bringers and their hatred of the Ministry and all of Wizarding society is quickly becoming well known. So well known, in fact, that the Ministry is trying to track them down for interrogation purposes.

As I walk away from my former family, I pause when I notice the Delacours looking at me intently. "For you 4…I will be seeing you in the not-too-distant future." I add, referring to me and Fleur's upcoming wedding due to the marriage contract, and continue walking out of the room.

For the rest of the day, I am in my guest room, gathering all of my things into my satchel to prepare for my flight from the wizarding world tomorrow. Once I'm all packed, I leave my room and walk up the winding staircases to return to the Room of Requirement for some quick training. When I get to the 7th floor, however, I notice Dap already at the top, standing in the middle of the open hallway leading to my destination. "Hi."

"Come in." She says, opening the door. Raising an eyebrow slightly, I walk into the chamber with her following. Draco is already inside and standing off to the side, looking at me intently.

"So…why are you staring at me like that?" I ask, my patience starting to slip a little.

"We want to talk." Dap responds, closing the door behind her and turning around. "We know about who you are, I told Draco where you have been all these years, and that you don't want to be here anymore. So, we want to know what you are to do after the Third Task."

I nod, understanding their logic and what the future on their training to become Sith will be. "Alright. After the Third Task, I am going to live the last day here at Hogwarts, then return to my private estate in Athens. I will remain there coordinating my people and the Life Bringers."

"Wait, you set up the Life Bringers?" Draco asks, incredulously. Of course, since his family is about as Pureblood loving as one can get, it's no wonder they would have heard of the new organization.

"…Not really. More like I gave certain muggleborns the right push needed for the group to become a reality. My corporation and I have been supplying them with safe houses to stay at, weapons to use, and other support to make sure they stay around long enough for the end game to play out. Now, as for your training, you will not be abandoned. A week from now, go to the local Peverell Corporation complex in London. Tell them your code names and they will provide you a speeder for 2 equipped with stealth generators. Dap, you will be Kione and Draco, you will be Drakon. When you get to my manor, I will complete your training and if you manage to do as well as I've seen you do in the past, you will officially become true Sith lords. Also, when Neville joins us, tell him the instructions I told you."

Both my apprentices stare at me with rapt attention, until I brought up Neville. "Why would you think he will join us? He's very loyal to Dumbledore." Draco says, almost accusing me of being involved in something else I haven't told them about.

"That's true, but I have known Nev for years. Unlike most of the fools, he also shares many of the same opinions of the wizarding world I have." Dap responds, starting to lean against the wall.

"And when he realizes who Faker really is, he will lose his beliefs of Dumbledore and join us." I respond, getting seated on the ground.

The duo stare at me with complete confusion. "Who's Faker?" Draco asks, a confused look on his face.

"Oh, right, I never talked about him. Mad-Eye Moody is not who he says he is. The real one is in captivity while his impersonator is a Death Eater named Barty Crouch, the 'dead' son of the Ministry worker who's somehow still alive and the reason his father went missing months ago. Another interesting fact is that he was one of the Death Eaters who tortured Nev's parents into insanity."

"So, when he realizes that not even Dumbledore can figure out who's friend and who's foe, Neville will be disillusioned and turn to us." Dap finishes, smirking coldly.

"Damn straight. Who's up for some training?" I ask, standing up.

For the next few hours, I use the enchanted suits of armor as training dummies to keep myself in shape. Dap uses her twin bamboo sticks in combat while Draco uses a longer, but single stick. This is just a simple, quick substitute so they can get the jest of fighting. When they become Sith lords, then they will be able to make their own lightsabers. Thankfully, during my time as a Jedi, I took apart different lightsabers and studied their inner workings so when times like these came, making the parts for a lightsaber will be easy.

When I slash apart the 2nd to last suit of armor with a heavy slash, I turn to face Dap and Draco, who are both sweating from the intense duel. Dap looks at me and her eyes widen when sees the final suit of armor, trying to sneak up behind me and slash at me. But I curl my Demon's Hand, and a ball of Dark Side energy rockets out of my hand, hitting the suit of armor. Said armor soars high into the air for several seconds before crashing on its back. "I had it covered." I say. The suits of armor all stand up and return to each corner of the chamber. "Well, I better get going. Force help me if I am late for the Third Task." I deactivate my lightsaber and head out of the Room of Requirement.

"Good luck." Dap says, walking up to me. I wrap an arm around her and pull her into a hug. Our moment passes and as I walk to the Quidditch Pitch that had been converted into the biggest maze I have ever seen in my life, I pull the Force illusions back up so the Demon's Hand looks like a real hand and my lightsaber looks like a normal wand. Along my trek, I reunite with Cedric, Fleur and Victor as they are escorted by the Headmasters and Headmistresses to the Hedge Maze. Deciding that it's the best thing to do, I join the group and stay at Fleur's side the whole time, holding her hand. Maxime either doesn't notice it or doesn't really care. As for Fleur, I can sense through the Force that she is conflicted right now, torn between whether or not she likes me or Bill. Honestly, I'm not sure what stance on her love life would benefit me more, so I'll let that choice take whatever course it takes.

But as the sun starts setting on us, we arrive at the entrance to the Hedge Maze while hundreds of people start getting seated at the bleachers, which form a semicircular shape facing the only entrance. White mist curls out of the Maze, creating the illusion of a cliché horror movie where rebellious teenagers wander into a forest, only to get stabbed to death.

"Ladies and gentlemen, boy and girls, I give you the Third Task of the wondrous, magnificent Triwizard Tournament! If you're from Durmstrang, give me a cheer." Bagman announces to the crowd, his voice magnified by a Sonorous like the last Tasks he announced. All of the Bulgarians let out a cheer, letting Victor know that they make their champion all the way. "If you're from Beuxbatons, give me a cheer!" All of the French students let out their own sets of cheers, but they are noticeably quieter than the Bulgarians. "If you're from Hogwarts, give me a cheer!" All at once, the Hogwarts students start cheering, the loudest of them all mainly due to their numbers. The adults watch all of this, smiles on their faces. For a split second, I notice my parents sitting in the crowd with Hailey between them, with the Weasleys sitting on their right, but I ignore them and turn around to stare at the entrance to the Maze. "Alright! Now, for all champions, here's your instructions. Depending on your ranking in the past Tasks, you will enter the Maze. Mr. Peverell, on my whistle, you will enter the maze. Ms. Delacour, you will enter the maze 5 minutes after Mr. Peverell. Mr. Diggory, you will enter 5 minutes after Ms. Delacour and Mr. Krum, you will proceed 5 minutes after that. Now, the Task itself is simple. Proceed to the center of the maze, where the Triwizard Cup and glory for the victor and his school will be awarded. Good luck to you all, for you will encounter many obstacles and perils along the way. On a side note, if you require emergency assistance from any of our staff, cast red sparks into the sky, but only do it if it's absolutely necessary."

I smirk slightly, thinking about a plan on how to proceed. I will proceed through the Maze, killing any magical creatures that get in my way and follow the will of the Dark Side. I can already feel the Force pulsating around the Triwizard Cup inside the Maze, so I will dawdle a little so the other champions can make it there. Then I will feint losing a duel or whatever and whichever champion who 'beats' me will take the Cup, setting Voldemort's trap. If Fleur's the one to spring the trap…then Fate truly works in mysterious ways. Yes, I may be a follower of the Force and don't believe in any of Earth's gods, I also believe that every action and opposite reaction is a single step in a game that spans the universe's very existence, a single fate with individual branches for everyone that is set in stone and the Force just makes sure everything comes to pass.

"Alright, Mr. Peverell. I wish you good luck." With those words, Bagman blows on his silver-plated whistle. I take off running, with people cheering loudly for me and my fancy dark blue robes billow in an epic fashion behind me as I enter the Maze, passing through the tall walls and mist hanging on the ground, which are meant to intimidate me but only reinforcing my thought of this place being a stereotypical horror movie scene. As I walk further and further into the Maze, the sounds of the crowd get quieter and quieter until they are nothing more than background noise. I wander aimlessly through the walls, barely hearing the whistle blow a 2nd time, meaning Fleur's joining the party.

I turn to the left, then notice a different form of mist in the middle of the chamber. It is a light gold mist that just floats there, never moving. I form a smug smirk, my marathon of reading various books in the Hogwarts library so I can have a vague idea of what I might face paying off. According to a book called 'Defensive Magical Theory,' written by one of the most boring authors ever to walk this planet, this is Limbo Mist. Applying a few techniques I learned in the Jedi Order, I take a deep breath and calm my emotions. With that done, I start walking through the golden mist. I feel my feet lift off the ground a little, but I keep calm and continue walking through it until I come out the other side. The effects of Limbo Mist immediately wear off and I return to the ground. I continue wandering through the Maze, turning another corner to the right and coming face to face with the most hideous creature I've ever seen in my entire life. It is about 10 feet long, with pale plates all over its body and what looks 2 stingers, one on its back and one that makes up its head. I must say, they will make lethal weapons against the Republic when my war against them starts. I pull out my lightsaber, dissolve the Force illusion around it and activate the red blade, holding it in my hands. The creatures, named Blast-Ended Skrewts by Hogwarts' gamekeeper Rubeus Hagrid, hisses in challenge and charges at me. Gripping my lightsaber with both hands, I dodge the stab from one of the pincers and slash upwards. The Skrewt screeches in pain as the stinger on the back is severed and falls to the ground. Taking advantage of the pause, I slash to the side to sever the other pincer and stab down. It screeches one last time before collapsing to the ground, dead. I deactivate my lightsaber and return the disguise to it.

I stare down at the remains of the creature I killed, and what has to be the craziest idea I have ever had in my life comes to mind. I have flashes of Jedi Knights on a rocky planet, then screaming in panic when a 3-headed hydra reveals itself, its heads eating the Jedi alive one by one until they are gone or spitting poison balls at its enemies. I snicker out loud at the thought of Jedi dying violently to them. Contrary to magical society, especially the British who think they know everything about the world, hydras do exist. According to my mandalorians who were setting up a Peverell Corporation station in Greece and searching for the ancient recipe for Greek fire, they came across a small hydra nest on one of the many uninhabited Greek islands, cut off from the rest of the world by the Greek magical society. Like the Americans, at least they immediately take action when its proven that a monstrous problem arises.

After a some more time of strolling along, knowing that I am getting closer and closer to the Triwizard Cup thanks to the Force, until I turn another corner and see something terrifying. In the middle of the grassy field is a much older version of Dap, blood slowly dripping down her face from a blue lightsaber that separates the 2 halves of her split head, the hilt facing me. "You let this happen to me. You left me on the battlefield to die at the Republic's Hand. Why did you do that? I loved you." She says, a guttural tone in her voice.

My shock drops, and a look of rage forms on my face. I concentrate the Dark Side through my Demon's Hand, wavering the illusion around it a little, with one thought in mind: Tearing this Boggart to pieces for daring take that form. When the miniature black ball of energy forms in my hand, I thrust it at the Boggart. It screeches in pain, its very essence flying in all directions before it dissolves to nothing. I must say, I feel really confident in myself right now, everything is going just right. I keep on strolling down the winding halls, even taking the long way around to avoid a creature with a particularly strong presence in the Force. After a while, I hear the sounds of a battle before me. Curious, I speed up my pace and start outright sprinting through until I come to an interesting scene. Victor Krum and Cedric Diggory are engaged in a fierce duel, with Cedric casting disarming charms while an exhausted-looking Krum is taking a much more dangerous side to the duel, casting cutting charms with the intent of either wounding his opponents to the point where they can't fight anymore or trying to replicate leprosy. I'm not sure which, though. Looking around, I notice Fleur lying on the ground, unconscious. She is bleeding lightly from numerous cuts all over her body, even some fairly deep gashes that are particularly visible under tears in her silver robes. At least she went down fighting like a warrior. After a few minutes, I decide the duel has gone on long enough and sneaking up behind Krum, I concentrate the Dark Side into my Demon's Hand for extra effectiveness and punch the Bulgarian in the back of the head. The impact causes him to stumble a lot and fall to the ground. This gives Cedric more than enough time to cast a stunner on him, knocking him out completely.

Cedric stares at me with shock on his face. "You're welcome." I say sarcastically to break the silence.

"Why would Victor do this? He's never acted this way before." Cedric asks, looking down at Victor's unconscious form with a shocked look.

I also look down at the Bulgarian, a suspicious look on my face. Only the Imperious curse has that kind of effect on people, so it's possible that Faker placed an Imperious curse to knock the other champions out of the Third Task. Why he would do that, I don't know why and I don't really care. "Let's not worry about that. Let's get them some help then win this thing."

Cedric nods in ascent to my idea. In unison, Cedric raises his wand and I raise my lightsaber and we send red sparks into the sky. At least, Cedric sends up genuine red sparks, I manipulate the Force to create large embers that closely resemble red sparks. With that done, we turn around and start walking together down the long path until we take a right. There, in the middle of a circular field, white mist hanging low to the ground, is the Triwizard Cup standing on a stone pedestal. "So, who will take the Cup?" Cedric asks, looking at me uncertainly.

Quickly, an idea comes to mind that will solve the problem without making me look suspicious. "We can't take the Cup together; that would be looked down upon and not prove who's truly the best. I think that we should sprint through this Maze and whoever reaches the Cup first will take it."

"I like that idea." Cedric responds. He gets into a running stance, with me doing the same. Then together, we start running down the long, straight walls. That's when the final obstacle in this infernal maze activates, and the walls start closing in on us. That being our motivation, we run even faster than before, jumping a little to avoid vines that swipe at us, trying to hinder our progress. My robes continue billowing behind me, the wind knocking it around in odd directions to avoid getting caught on the passing vines and bushes. One such vine emerges right in front of my face and slashes to me, managing to dig into the flesh of my left cheek.

"Ah!" I yelp, holding the cut with my lightsaber-less hand as blood starts trickling out of the open wound as I continue running down the corridor, the walls getting closer and closer. This goes on for what feels like an eternity before we reach the end. By this time, the walls are touching both my shoulders and I can feel the leaves brushing up against me. At this point, I notice a vine reaching out at my feet to try and grab me. Unlike the last vines I easily dodged, I maintain my stride and trip on the vine. I crawl to the end, just as the walls completely close behind Cedric and I. I look up and there Cedric is, standing over me with an apologetic look on his face. Next to him is the Triwizard Cup, glowing blue.

"Sorry, Harrison. You were a good opponent." He says, then grabs the closest stone handle on the Cup. The Portkey activates instantly and it, along with Cedric Diggory, are gone.

"Yeah. It was nice knowing you while it lasted." I respond sarcastically, standing up again. Strangely, the ground around me seems to be spinning and the next thing I know, I am back at the entrance to the Maze with people cheering me on. I feign a confused look, looking around in different directions. The crowd slowly stops cheering as they look at me with confusion.

"Mr. Peverell, where is the Triwizard Cup and Mr. Diggory?" Dumbledore asks, walking to me. Off to the side, next to the judges, Fleur and Victor stare at me with a sorrowful look at being eliminated so easily and also confused, like everyone else, as to why the Triwizard Cup isn't here.

"I don't know, Headmaster. Cedric grabbed the Cup and the 2 just disappeared instantly." I respond, a confused and slightly alarmed tone in my voice for extra measure.

Dumbledore takes the bait and his eyes widen. "Are you absolutely certain of this?" He asks, a calculating look on his face. That has certainly gotten him to think that there's been someone manipulating this tournament the entire time.

Before any of us can converse further, Cedric suddenly appears on the ground, panting. His right arm is hanging limply at an odd angle, blood seeping from an open wound. "Voldemort. Voldemort's back." He says, loud enough for everyone to hear.

The people start screaming, running around and general chaos reigning over the field. I fight down a smirk when I see Faker's eyes widen in shock and a scared look forms on his face. Manipulating the Force, I manage to attract Nev's and Faker's attention to me as I start walking away from the Quidditch field. Faker follows me quickly while Nev wisely keeps a safe distance, suspicion rolling off him in waves. Dumbledore and the rest of the judges would have noticed me easily, but they have their hands full right now, trying to stop complete anarchy from ruling and reassuring Cedric's parents, who are trying to run to their son as he's hoisted onto a stretcher to be taken up to the Hospital Wing.

I keep on walking until I come to the very edge of the Forbidden Forest and suddenly stop. "I know you're there, Crouch." I respond, then turn around.

Suddenly, Moody's form starts forming bubbles all around his marred face. In pain, he grabs the fake eye and rips it out, twitching in every direction as it rolls to my feet. Crouch is now on his knees, his hair turned straw-colored and his face becomes smoother. He looks up at me with a shocked look on his face. "How did you know it was me?"

"I didn't know it was you, per se. I just knew that you had managed to impersonate Moody, and that only a skilled Death Eater could have pulled it off." I respond choosing my words carefully. Nev is listening in on our conversation so if I said I knew who the imposter was all along, Nev would hate me and not join my cause.

"That's right. The Dark Lord himself picked me to capture one of Dumbledore's most loyal followers and impersonate him. I managed to fool Dumbledore himself to carry out his task, to ensure that he returns to return all of magical society to those who deserve it. Not you, you filthy halfblood, the Life Bringers, or anyone else who isn't of pure wizarding blood!" He says, arrogance and anger radiating from him. A shame; his anger would have made him an interesting Sith.

"That's too bad. Your value to me has run out." I say, then break the illusion on my lightsaber, activate it and slash at his knees. He crumbles back to the ground, blood staining the ground from the wound. "But…there is someone else who should snuff you out. You can come on out now, Nev."

Slowly and with anger in his steps, Neville walks forward. "Who are you exactly, Harrison?" He asks, no fear in his voice or face. He certainly has courage, I'll give him that.

"Everything will be explained later. But if you want answers, you must prove your worth to me. Take my weapon and kill the man who made your parents the way they are now, lying helplessly on their backs at St. Mungo's." I respond, holding out my lightsaber.

Nev stares at it for several moments, then looks at me before Crouch starts laughing loudly and openly sneering. "You don't have the courage to kill me. You are just like your parents, never willing to kill. That was their greatest undoing."

That last sentence makes Nev look at him for a long moment before he finally snaps and gives in to the anger in him. He snatches the activated lightsaber and slices in a diagonal fashion. He did way better than I was expecting him to, successfully slitting his throat in a single slash. The body crumples to the ground, blood starting to drip from the open wound. "Congratulations, Nev. You passed my little test. About a week from now, go to the local Peverell Corporation offices and tell them your name is…Lancelot. I promise, Nev, everything will make sense to you in due time. For now, I need to set up a crime scene to cover up our actions."

Nev just nods in understanding, running away from me and back to the field where everyone is still arguing loudly with each other, to where I can hear them faintly. Meanwhile, I use the Force to lift Crouch's corpse, turning it in such a way that he will stop bleeding on the ground. What's already on the ground can't be helped. As I mill back up to the castle, a Force ward around me to keep people from noticing me, I smirk openly. Everything is going just right, now that the Triwizard Tournament is finally done and over with.

After Dumbledore's final speech and my return to Peverell Manor, all I need to do from now on is to resume command of my small army's operations so my true plans can finally begin working.

What could possibly happen that I wouldn't see coming or have time to prepare for?

* * *

 _AN:_ Yeah, this was an interesting chapter to write. I decided to fuse the book's reality with the movie's reality on the Maze, so that's why I decided to leave out the Sphinx for this.

Yup, the Triwizard Tournament arc is finally at a close and the real action can start soon. Oh man, have I been eager to finish this arc.

I will see you next time with one of the most violent chapters I have ever written (at least the 2nd half).

Later, all, and have a Happy Mother's Day!


	15. Chapter 15: A Choice Made

**August 1** **st**

 **1995**

 **8:05 am Earth time**

 **Peverell Manor**

 **Athens, Greece, Europe**

 **Earth**

* * *

 **Harrison Peverell's POV:**

* * *

I feel myself stirring in bed slightly before my eyes flutter open and find myself staring up at the wooden ceiling of my mansion.

It's honestly hard to believe that it's been almost 2 months since the end of my only school year at Hogwarts and how much things have changed since the day I participated in the Third Task of the Triwizard Tournament. The Ministry of Magic is in complete denial of Voldemort's return and are now discriminating Cedric, Dumbledore and all of their friends and followers at every opportunity they can. Even those who support Cedric and believe him, such as the Potters, are now disgraced like you wouldn't believe, and there are rumors that the Potters have sealed themselves within their house and don't leave for days on end. If I didn't care so little about them, I would actually feel a little sorry for them. Fortunately for me, I have already gone to the Ministry, saying I do not share the same views that they do and went to the Department of Magical Education and made myself a homeschooler so I won't be going back to Hogwarts. When someone comes, asks me to take those accursed NEWTs, I will just use Force persuasion to make them give me an O on all the core subjects and save myself unnecessary hassle.

I sit up and after noticing that the 2nd half of my bed is now empty, I shrug and start walking to the kitchen for a quick breakfast of some scrambled eggs and bacon for myself and my 3 guests. Dap, Draco and Nev have been staying here ever since the English branch of Peverell Corporation gave them a transport to safely arrive here so I can continue their training. Once that's done, I start digging into the plate of breakfast I made for myself. "Morning, Harry." Dap says, already in the kitchen wearing her ice blue pajamas and a wistful smile on her face as she smells the cooking eggs and bacon she's making.

I give myself a playboy-style grin as she gets seated next to me. Yes, I did give up on the name Harry long ago, but for Dap, I can make an exception. "Morning. So, what are you going to do today?"

Her face instantly sobers up and a slightly sour look starts forming on her face. "Have you forgotten? Today's _the_ day for you. That's why I made breakfast for you." She says, a slightly cold tone in her voice but still looking content. Yesterday was my 18th birthday, and to celebrate it, me and Dap told our companions of our secret relationship and we went on our first date, which was us riding to the top of the hill and having a picnic, watching the daily happenings of Athens all the while.

I wonder what she's talking about, then my brief moment of bliss of just being with her dissipates instantly and my own mood instantly turns sour. I have been in constant contact with the entire Delacour family for the entire time I have been back at home, and after everything was said and done, we agreed that the big wedding will take place today at a remote cottage overlooking the sea called Shell Cottage, loaned to us by the Weasleys for this occasion, and also the last day for my 3 apprentices to stay here, so they are required to return to their families, and ultimately, Hogwarts. I despise that, but to maintain our absolute secrecy, it must happen. On the bright side, Dap and Nev will also attend my wedding since they are very close friends to me, while Draco uses this day as a distraction to use the Force and manipulate the entire Parkinson family so that when he returns home, he can successfully convince his parents and their 'guests' that he had been spending time at their family house all summer and setting up the new alibi that Draco is now dating Pansy. When I say guests, I am saying that the now-reborn Voldemort, along with all of his still-free Death Eaters gathered together again, have taken over Malfoy Manor and are using it as their headquarters to plan various attacks they will launch on the wizarding world and recruitment to their cause. From what Draco told me, one of the boldest plans Voldemort is mulling over involves a massive breakout from Azkaban to gain back his old allies and potential recruitment of Azkaban's infamous guards, the Dementors. From what I heard, they are nasty creatures who would make interesting biological weapons against the Republic, if I feel like trying to control them that is.

"Ah, yes. Well, I suppose I should get going, I guess." I finish eating my bacon then hoist myself to my feet and walk back to my bedroom, with Dap going to her own guest room. Rummaging through the closet, I pull out a crisp black normal tuxedo tailored to fit me perfectly with a white undershirt and a black bowtie. I go to the bathroom, wash my hands, brush teeth and slick my hair back a little to where it doesn't look like I literally just rolled out of bed. When I finish, I whistle slightly. Aside from my yellow eyes and missing a Walther PPK, I actually almost remind myself of James Bond. Nodding in satisfaction, I pull my usual illusions back up, slip on a pair of socks and black leather shoes before walking back out and to the front entrance. Nev is already eating breakfast while getting changed at the same time while Draco is still fast asleep, which is understandable considering I have put them, including Dap, through a strenuous training session yesterday. Nev and Dap are going to attend my wedding as well, for they are close friends and for security purposes in case something goes wrong. With how I've been training them physically and mentally, I believe that Draco and Dap don't have to wait much longer to become true Sith lords, aside from Nev mainly because he's just starting out.

I hear running and when I turn around, I notice Dap running down the bronze-colored spiral staircase that leads to the 2nd floor of the Manor, slipping on an ice blue dress that has 2 straps on it, but leaving the shoulders bare. She walks down to the ground floor and looks at me. "Well, how do I look?" She asks, holding up her arms.

"Great." I answer, wishing deep down that she was the one who I would stand with at the alter, but alas, it is not to be. Dap smiles widely as Nev also walks down. Unlike either of us, he is wearing the same dress robes he wore during the Yule Ball. "Alright. Let's get this over with." With that, I open the front door and walk out into the familiar rocky fields with tufts of grass all over the place, a bright blue sky hanging overhead with small clouds here and there. I touch my 2 friends, and before they can have a chance to ask what I'm doing, they gasp as I bend the very molecules in our bodies, making us dissolve and fly across the planet to the outskirts of Cornwall in England. Once we get our bearings, we look around and feel the salty air of being near the sea again, and sure enough, we are on the edge of a cliff that overlooks the sea. In the considerable distance, I notice a 2-story cottage with white walls and what looks like shells embedded on the walls, and a tiny garden surrounding it. To the right of the cottage is a small white alter with dozens of chairs on either side. Surprisingly, quite a few people are attending this event. The Potters, the Weasleys, the Delacours, the Greengrasses, Neville's grandmother, just to name a few. Slowly, we walk to the small alter and everyone notices us. Nev's grandmother runs up to him and pulls him into a tight hug, the 2 conversing quietly so I can't hear it. Dap also wanders off to go talk to her family. Just out of courtesy, I go off to talk to my own parents.

"Harrison, we just want you to know that we are proud of you." Lily says, starting to tear up slightly from being happy with this moment and sad that I didn't come home like she had hoped. I fight the urge to roll my eyes at her comment.

"That's good to hear." I respond, then seeing that they nothing more to say, I continue walking up to the alter. I just stand up there, waiting for several minutes while the priest gets set up, the sea breeze blowing through my hair lightly. Then up the red carpeted aisle comes Fleur herself. She is wearing a long white sleeveless bridal dress and is holding the arm of my dad as she proceeds. Even though my heart is truly with Dap, I have to admit that Fleur is absolutely stunning.

"Hello Harry." She says, walking up to the alter as well and taking my hands.

"Hello Fleur. I must say, you look beautiful." I answer. We have known each other since we were kids so I should flatter her every now and then. She blushes pretty heavily at the compliment, and after a few minutes of final preparations and everyone getting seated, the wedding started.

It was a rather quick one, actually. We just repeated the vows and binding words before the 2 of us kissed. As everyone starts cheering for us, with the exception of Dap and Nev, I think about our moment. It was nice…very nice, in fact. But Daphne's company feels much more welcome to me. For the rest of the day, we dance and celebrate this day, a change to the gloomy atmosphere everyone else is used to since the Third Task was finished. As the party goes on, the day goes on and the sun starts setting on the horizon, casting a golden glow over the sky.

"Blimey. I'm getting tired. Have a nice night, all." I say, holding Fleur's hand as we wave at the crowd while walking back to our residence. While we walk to the cottage, the crowd starts dispersing, taking everything down and going their separate ways.

Soon, Fleur and I enter the house, and take turns in the bathroom, getting changed into our sleepwear. "Thank you for today. Today was the best day of my life." Fleur says, beaming with happiness.

I give her a kind smile, although I cringe a little deep down about that. "Indeed. So, up for a drinking contest?" I ask, using the Force to summon a bottle of alcohol, anything really. To my surprise, a bottle of 1907 Ogden's Old Firewhiskey and 2 shot glasses shot into my open arms. Did a Weasley smuggle it in at some point in case they wanted to wash down their troubles?

Her eyes widen when she saw me use the Force to summon the bottle. "How did you do that?" She asks, curiosity in her voice. I mentally kick myself in the head. Why am I not at my A-game right now? Maybe it was that champagne I had an hour ago that's messing with my head.

"Eh, I have a very basic degree of wandless magic to where I can levitate certain objects and move them around. It was after an unfortunate incident when I lost my wand." Mostly a lie, but with a kernel of truth in it.

Fleur raises an eyebrow at my unusual response, but doesn't dispute it. "Why are you holding out on me? I would like to see if I can outdrink you." She says this with a teasing smirk, then grabs the bottle and rips the cork off, before pouring a shot for herself, downing it and sighing. "Your turn."

I smirk openly and pour my own shot of firewhiskey and also down it. This goes on for at least half an hour, until the bottle is empty. I make to stand up, but my head starts getting wobbly and I collapse to the ground. Fleur laughs at my failure to stand up, before she falls out of her chair and to the ground. "That was fun. What do you want now?" I ask, each word slurred beyond imagination.

Fleur only gives me a teasing smirk before crawling on the ground and up onto the bed. Unlike Fleur, I grab the footrest and hoist myself up, collapsing on the soft bed next to Fleur. Quickly, I cup her cheeks and we kiss again, harder than before. From there, everything becomes a blur.

* * *

 **August 2** **nd**

 **3:30 am Earth time**

 **Shell Cottage**

 **Cornwall, England, Europe**

 **Earth**

* * *

I sit up, gasping for air. "Bugger…" I gasp about, getting up and running to the bathroom and more importantly, the toilet. Gripping it with all my might, I feel my insides give into the pain.

Opening my mouth wide, I hurl everything that was in my stomach. I can only watch in disgust as the slightly yellow puke flows into the toilet…for 5 whole minutes! Afterwards, I start coughing and lay on the ground. Sitting up and my head throbbing heavily, I flush the toilet and look down. To my absolute horror, I am completely naked.

'Just what did I get myself into a few hours ago?' I ask, closing my eyes and ignoring the awful smell that intrudes my nose as I try to remember, sinking into the Force for guidance. But for the life of me, I can't remember what happened last night. It's no matter. I look outside the window, noticing that it's still night outside. On the bed lies a sleeping Fleur, but the room is so dark I can't make out many details. With a start, I realize this is my chance to leave this madness behind. Quickly, I get my entire suit back on, shoes and all, and creep down the staircase, making my way to the front door and opening it. The cool sea breeze slaps me in the face, filling me with a pleasant feeling. I ignore it, closing the door behind me and walking away. As I continue my walk away from the house, I give one last look at it.

I can't help but shake the feeling that last night set something big in motion. Shaking my head lightly, I use the Force to teleport myself away from Cornwall and England altogether.

* * *

 **April 24** **th**

 **1996**

 **1:10 pm Earth time**

 **Peverell Manor**

 **Athens, Greece, Europe**

 **Earth**

* * *

I can't stop the wide smile from forming on my face, which one would say makes me look like a complete lunatic.

The last 9 months have been absolutely splendid for my military power. The Triremes and Drakkor-class warships are now in full mass production, with over 100 of each type completed and ready to invade, with hundreds of fighter ships also ready to go. At this rate, Vizsla predicts that our conquering of the planet will start in approximately 3 months. To top it all off, just about every country on Earth has bought in mass quantities machine guns, rifles, and other weapons of war from Peverell Corporation and with a flick of the switch, the world will be powerless against my onslaught.

As for the wizarding world…I can honestly say that they are buried in a deep pile of shisno right now. With a subtle tip by my hand, the Second Salemers were gathered again and causing quite a lot of damage to the American wizards' properties and trouble for the people, the French are having small civil wars regarding what stance it should take in the upcoming wizarding war and the British purebloods are fighting for their very credibility. The Life Bringers have now amassed to a small army numbering about 100 hate-filled muggleborns and have been conducting protests in pureblood-supporting areas. A few examples include the army breaking into the Nott family house, destroying everything in sight. The purebloods are completely outraged by the attacks, bribing the corrupt Minister of Magic Cornelius Fudge to pass new laws that favor themselves and his Undersecretary, an inbred swine of a woman named Delores Umbridge.

While all this has been going on, I have continued training my apprentices as hard as I can, making them push themselves to achieve new levels. As a result of this, Dap and Draco had passed their Sith trials with ease and are now fellow Darths. Dap is now Darth Kione for her mastery of ice manipulation while Draco is Darth Drakon, for he possesses the cunningness that a Slytherin treasures to make his battle strategies even more effective and lethal.

Right now, I am laying on my back and staring up at the blue sky from the patio that connects to the front door of my manor. I need a small break right now after several weeks of nonstop training of my former apprentices and observing my military at work. Besides, I get the feeling that soon, things are going to get much more hectic. I could worry about my NEWTs, but really, just some Force persuasion and I have decent grades for a test that will go away once the wizarding world is annihilated, so why bother?

With the cool breeze blowing around me and the soft rocking of my chair, I close my eyes and sink into the Force. I feel my essence bring pulled away from my body and soaring across seas and countries, stopping in a grimy old house, filled to the brim with very familiar-looking witches and wizards wandering around and conversing, including my parents, Bill, the real Mad-Eye Moody, and more. Then, with a jolt, I recognize this place. I had visited it years ago when my parents took me and Hailey to see Sirius. I believe the address is Number 12 Grimmauld Place.

Everyone continues talking for several minutes before someone comes walking down the steps. After a few minutes, I see that it's Fleur Delacour herself, wearing long silver robes and her hair grown out considerably. Honestly, at this point her personality has negated any chance of her surviving the wizarding worlds' destruction. As I look upon the woman I haven't seen in 9 months, I notice something in her arms, wrapped in a pink blanket and an idea forms in my mind on what's inside, filling me with a sense of absolute shock. "Morning, Fleur. How is little Victoria?" Bill Weasley asks, standing up from the coffee table where his breakfast is, and wrapping an arm around both her shoulders.

My jaw slackens and I can feel a considerable amount of blood drain from my face, and I float over Fleur and look inside the bundle just to make sure. Sure enough, a baby girl is tucked inside the blanket, looking up at the ceiling with sharp, amber eyes. Even I, a Sith lord, start getting a little choked up when I find out that I have a daughter, and judging by her skin and extreme youth, she couldn't have lived more than a week. But then the name catches up to me, and I groan lightly. Leave it to wizards to name their kids with old-school names used during ancient times or the middle ages!

I think that my daughter deserves a much more modern name. Hmmm…Becki, Hilda, Roxanne, Cindy. That last name stuck much more than the others, and I smile down at my daughter, Cindy Peverell. "What are we going to do about Mr. Peverell? He's been gone for months and no one's seen or heard from him since." Moody asks, a frustrated look on his face.

Fleur looks down at our child, a look of slight anger and sadness forming on her face. "We will find him and bring him back. For little Victoria's sake."

After a second, I get a horrible idea on what they are talking about, and nothing but abject fury courses through my veins. It's not bad enough that they are trying to control me again, but if they get truly desperate enough, they could use Cindy as blackmail for me to come back and make me do their bidding like I'm their personal puppet. My fury forms an invisible hurricane of the Dark Side, and aside from Cindy, everyone starts screaming for a second as they hold their heads in agony. The power storm is so intense that my conscience flies out of the house and back into my body. I let out a small scream as my eyes shoot open and start breathing heavily.

'I need to go to London, retrieve Cindy, and…' My train of thought is interrupted as the miniature holo device I was given by Vizsla before I went on my small vacation starts beeping. Wanting to get the message done and over with, I pull out the device and activate it. Vizsla appears on the screen, standing at attention as usual. "Supreme Admiral, what has happened?" I ask. Since the military is now truly getting organized, I made him Supreme Admiral, in other words, commander of all my troops.

"My Emperor, I wanted to tell you something of great importance. Our latest search for Greek Fire has failed and I fear that we will not be able to find the ancient weapon anywhere. But I also wanted to report that we found something else. When we searched the island barricaded by the magical community, we managed to find an old wizarding staff. I may not be sensitive to the Force, but even I can tell that it's powerful in some way." Vizsla reports, attentive and to the point like always.

'Now that's interesting. But my personal mission comes first.' My face hardens and I look back at Vizsla. "Alright. I have some personal business to take care of first, so I will not be able to come to the base. In approximately an hour, I want you here at my manor, with the staff." I shut off communications when finish my response. Standing up to my full height, I am about to leave when I feel the Force stop me. Listening with intent for a second, I am slightly confused when I find that the Force wants me to write down the entire Sith Code on a sheet of paper. But I walk inside my house anyway, use the Force to summon a blank piece of paper and a cheap red-colored ball point pen I keep in my desk, I write out the entire Code on it, tweaking the final line so it says 'Magic shall set me free.' Although why I would need to do this is beyond me at the moment. I fold the paper, throw on a dark blue cloak over my black shirt and walk out the front door once again. After I sneak behind the chapel so no one would see me as a precaution, then use the Force to teleport myself back to England, in an abandoned back alley. As I walk out and start making my way down the quiet street of Grimmauld Place, I start to really think things over. I will walk inside, take Cindy using their diplomatic methods or take a more…hands-on approach. Once that is done, I will leave Grimmauld Place and England and after I take her back to Greece, I will personally care for her until Dap comes back from Hogwarts and helps me out. As for my meeting with Vizsla in a few hours…I'll figure that one out when it comes. Soon, I arrive at the entrance to Number 12. Maybe because I already know where it was located beforehand that it's not invisible to me like so many others on the planet. With new confidence in my steps, I stroll up to the front door and give 3 firm knocks on the door. A moment of silence passes before the door creaks open and the face of Charlie Weasley pokes his face out the door. Before he can so much as react, I lift my Demon's Hand and send a pulse of Dark Side energy. He gets knocked down and falls on his back, completely unconscious. I open the door all the way and walk inside the filthy house. For some reason, a thick curtain hangs over a portrait that's mumbling someone incoherent. Everyone is gathered in the kitchen, wands raised and ready to face me. But when they realize who they are facing, their stances waver considerably.

"Harry! It's so good to see…" Fleur says before they are all anchored to the ground by the Dark Side.

"I'm not here to declare myself at your service. I'm here to take my daughter with me." I answer, then walk start to make my way upstairs where I sense Cindy is, but Molly interjects.

"You're going to take your child away from her mother? How could you, you bitch!" Everyone has shocked looks at Molly's outburst, but agree with the sentiment. I ignore them and walk up the staircase to the floor where I freeze anyone who stands in my way with the Force, with them saying various things, such as, "Harrison, what are you doing here?"

I reach the very end of the hall, and open the door. Inside is a very organized nursery, with a white crib in the center of the room and baby food lining a shelf on the right. I make my way across the grimy room and look into the crib. Lying inside it, on her back, is my daughter, who is currently asleep. I can't help the small smile from forming as I gently pick her up, after making sure she is completely wrapped in a blanket. "Welcome to the world, Cindy." I kiss her gently on the forehead, using the Force on her so she can stay asleep and walk out of the nursery.

As I make my way back down the hallway, I use another pull from the Force and fight a grin when I feel the Locket fly into my robes. I give everyone a kind smile when I reach the bottom of the staircase. "Well, have a nice day." But the second I turn around, I feel one of the people break their Force binding and send a spell at me. I turn around and lift up my left hand and channel the Dark Side through it, shielding us from the onslaught. I narrow my eyes at Fleur, who is the one who sent the curse at me. The part that is catching me offguard is the amount of raw hatred and rage burning through her, making her Force powers much more effective. Looks like I was wrong about her after all, but I push the thought aside as I shake my Demon's Hand in the famous disapproval gesture. "Now, now. You don't want to hit me. You could miss and hit Cindy. Wait, what are you all staring at?" I ask, then notice what's wrong and my eyes widening in shock. The Force illusion had been ripped from my mutated hand, showing it off in all its grotesque glory, much to the disgust and horror of everyone in the room. "Damn illusions. Leave it to them to fail you on the battlefield."

"Harrison…what is that?" Fleur asks, her French accent less noticeable as the last time I saw her.

I look down at my arm, my kind smile turning to a wide grin. "This…is what I call the Demon's Hand. I admit, I had to decimate my old arm quite a while ago, but it was a small price to pay, for I have the power to perform wandless magic and spells that would make most grown men fear for their lives."

"Harry…what happened to you?" Lily asks, complete horror written on her face to finally meet the real me.

"First off, my name is Harrison, Lady Potter. But to answer your question, after I left you all those years ago, I was taken in by an order of warrior monks that has existed for centuries. They taught me to value power and that if one stands in your way, you eliminate them. To prove it to you, I have a copy of the code I live my life by for you all to read." I use my open hand to levitate the paper out, now understanding why the Force wanted me to write it down, and flick my hand. The paper zooms past the frozen crowd and smacks the kitchen table. "With that, I bid you all farewell. I can promise you this…we will meet again." I give one last at Fleur, who is staring at me with a shocked and grief-stricken look, before turning around and using the Force to open the door and usher myself out, slamming the door behind me. Slowly, I walk down the still-quiet street before returning to the empty alley. Concentrating on the Force heavily, I teleport us back to my manor.

"We're home." I whisper softly before I hear something collapse behind me. I whirl around, ready to kill whoever had followed me, when I notice the small, grey-skinned House Elf with floppy ears and wearing very ratty robes. "Kreacher. Give me a reason not to blow your head off." I growl, recognizing the House Elf and knowing that he is loyal to the Black family.

The aged House Elf bows to me deeply, holding an old sock in his hands. "Kreacher saw you show up old master and his fools of friends. Kreacher was very impressed with your brashness at the fools, so Kreacher tricked the blood traitor to giving him a sock so now Kreacher is free. And Kreacher chooses to serve you, Harrison Peverell."

…I'll be honest, this is not how I thought this day was going to go. But after I use the Force, I check his heart rate pulse. I learned quite a while ago that I can tell truth from lie judging by one's heart rate. Even a subtle change in heart rate, unless it's a workout, would indicate he is lying, and judging by my results, he is telling the truth. "Very well. Kreacher, I will gladly be your master and I promise to make Sirius and the Order pay for treating you like trash. Overtime, I will teach you how your new life will be, and you will be given the respect you deserve."

Kreacher stares up at me, a light shining in his eyes. "If you can do that, Kreacher will serve you well, master."

"Thank you. I would stick around, but I have some very important business to take care of and a guest who is coming, so I'll show you in." I walk up the patio and open the door. Kreacher walks in with me, looking around my house with an impressed look on his face. I close the door behind me and pull the manor key out of my pocket. It's just a normal gold key, but the left side has an onyx jewel embedded in it, the symbol of the Peverell coat of arms carved into it. "This is a key to every door in the house. When you do some exploring, you may find some…out of place things here. I promise, when my meeting is finished, I will answer any questions you have. For now, can you please take care of Cindy?"

"Kreacher will do that." He responds, a ghost of a smile on his face.

I give him a nod, hoping to the Force that he is telling the truth. I would entrust Cindy's caring to someone else until Kreacher can prove himself to me, but considering I have ties to a military who would be harsh on her and Dap is at Hogwarts, I don't have much choice. But if he hurts my daughter in any way or kidnaps her and returns her to the Order, then he better leave because he will have nowhere to run or hide without me finding him and making him beg for death. I walk out the front door, closing it behind me, and walk back to the chapel, where I watch as large dust clouds are kicked up by the fighter that has its stealth generators activated before touching down on the ground completely and Vizsla gets out, dressed in a grey military-style uniform and holding a metal staff in his hand as he walks to me. The staff itself is shaped like a cobra snake, with dark green skin, a white underbelly and gleaming yellow jewels for eyes. I suck in a sharp breath when I see it, recognizing it instantly.

It is the staff of perhaps the darkest wizard to ever live, Herpo the Foul. Judging by the look, it was preserved by the Force so it never rusted away like other metal-based artifacts from the days of the Ancient World. "Come in." Vizsla just nods in response and we walk back inside, away from the blazing sun. Once inside, I take him down the corridor to the left, lined with olive tree wood flooring like the rest of the house is, and into my personal office. I get seated on the leather chair behind my clean desk and gesture for my Supreme Admiral to get seated, to which he complies. Using the Force, I pull the staff into my open hands and examine it. Power courses through the life like I have never felt anything else. Even Darth Malak's holocron doesn't have the same feeling of darkness this does! I have felt this power once before, so I know what this staff also is. "Good job, Supreme Admiral." I murmur, examining the feel of the staff with an awestruck look.

"Thank you. Permission to speak freely?" Vizsla asks, a little cautiously.

"Granted."

"What exactly is the significance of this staff? You look like Christmas had come early, so to speak."

"I see that you are learning the vast variety of odd cultures of this planet. This is the staff of Herpo the Foul. An ancient Force-sensitive who was probably the child of a fallen Jedi who landed on this world. He invented most of the dark rituals that the wizarding world knows and fears to this day. This staff was his weapon, and it's more than that. It's the first Horcrux ever made. I read about it in a book I am going to need to hide here in my house. Essentially, a Horcrux is an object that can contain a shard of one's very soul. After they perform a spell and murder a fellow human being, of course."

Vizsla now looks at the staff, a look of awe on his face as well. "Interesting. However, I also want to say that my engineers have hit a major problem."

"What do you mean exactly?" I ask, wondering in what field they are having a problem. From what my previous reports say, everything is going splendidly.

"Well, it's about Project Tiel. The weapon itself is complete, but it's so advanced that we can't find an effective fuel to make it run completely."

That is a major problem. Project Tiel is my top-secret project to create a war machine that will be of great assistance to my soldiers on the field. Without fuel…it would have all been for nothing. I can't help but glare down at the staff of Herpo, furious at the problem. But then, an idea forms in my mind and my anger dissipates. In fact, I start smiling, for this is the _perfect_ opportunity for something I've been considering for over a year. And now that I think about it, I wouldn't have it any other way. "Supreme Admiral, tell the men to stop worrying about their little problem. I already have a solution to it. In fact, I want the both of us to go to France and pick up a…special guest. She will make a fine candidate for what I have in mind."

"Yes Emperor." Vizsla says, standing up and saluting me respectfully before I show him out the door and we walk towards the still-invisible Assassin-class fighter, waiting until the doors slide upward on both sides, permitting us entry. I get myself seated on the leather seat, looking at the control panel before me.

My Supreme Admiral operates the controls before him, sealing the doors and locking them before he pulls up on the metal steering wheel in front of him. Silent as the night, the fighter flies into the air and soars over the city of Athens, the Mediterranean Sea and across Europe at top speeds until we reach the country of France. I use the Force to guide Vizsla until we arrive at our destination, and I can tell that something is very wrong. In the streets of France's version of Diagon Alley, to which I don't know or care what the name is. Gabrielle Delacour is walking along with 2 French wizard escorts, being shadowed by 2 men in black wizarding robes with the hoods pulled up son I can't see their faces. But judging by their Force signatures, I know who they are. They are the fathers of Draco's former lackeys Vincent Crabbe and Gregory Goyle, and known Death Eaters. "It seems that they can't keep themselves out of trouble. Admiral, set the fighter down on top of one of the buildings. I will take care of this and collect our guest personally."

Vizsla shivers slightly, seeing the wicked grin forming on my face before setting down on top of one of the shops in the alley and unlocking the doors on the ship so I can jump out. Quickly, I pull the hood up on my robes, pull out my lightsaber and throw off the disguise on my Demon's Hand since the illusion will just falter anyway and wait. Sure enough, the 2 escorts start getting suspicious and whirl around, wands out and ready. But the 2 Death Eaters had already expected the confrontation to happen and whipped out their own wands, resulting in the 2 sides beginning to duel in the streets, stunners against curses. Everyone in the streets ran for cover, hiding deep in the buildings and not even looking out to see who would win the fight. "Go! We will hold them off!" One of the French men said to Gabrielle who is about to leave, only to freeze in place.

Rolling my eyes a little at how foolish the Death Eaters are, I activate my lightsaber and jump down from the building, rolling in the air before landing on the ground, the Force softening my landing. I take advantage of the 4 shocked wizards' pause before leaping into action, with my activated lightsaber. I quickly slash the Mr. Crabbe across the chest, his body spilling on the ground after I leap aside to avoid a curse from Mr. Goyle and give a heavy slash to his right leg. He collapses to the ground, crying out in pain. Not wanting to hear his wails, I slash his head off. I stand upright again and glare at the 2 French guards and a horrified Gabrielle. I smirk openly then lift up my Demon's Hand. Two balls of black energy rocket towards them and they don't even have the chance to scream in terror before they collapse to the ground, their souls ripped from their bodies. An evil plan forms in my mind, and I use the Force to vaporize the Death Eater's bodies. With that done, I use the Force to speed up my stride and appear at Gabrielle's side. I touch my mutated hand to her head and she collapses to the ground, unconscious. I pick her up and use the Force to enhance my movements, jumping onto a canopy and using the momentum to rocket back up to the fighter, where I enter the ship once again and throw Gabrielle's unconscious form onto the console in between Vizsla and myself.

The mandalorian doesn't even comment, just closes the hatch and pulls the ship back into the air and soars out of the planet's atmosphere. Vizsla pushes some buttons on the control panel before him and a circular portal appears in front of the fighter, engulfing it completely, before the fighter emerges on the opposite side, outside the red rocky planet's atmosphere. The fighter continues its course to the planet when the secret hatch opens up in the ground and the fighter flies down and into the underground hanger.

The second the ship touches down on the ground, Vizsla steps off with me following, carrying the unconscious quarter-veela over my shoulders. "Take her to Project Tiel's construction zone and empty the area. I want what's about to happen to be private." I tell the nearest mandalorian in full battle armor. He salutes and takes the girl with him.

* * *

 **One hour later…**

* * *

Everything is all set.

I stand over the still-unconscious form of Gabrielle as we are in the middle of the enormous chamber, now wearing a simple black shirt and jeans. The young Delacour is lying on a table with surgical equipment lining each side, a platform suspended above us and the opposite wall is composed of the 30 feet tall humanoid-shaped war machine strapped to a giant's version of a work table. It is absolutely beautiful, with sleek silver metal, a cylindrical face attached to the main bulky body without any neckline that is made up of a black screen so it can take on human-like expressions and jet thrusters under its rectangular feet so it can assist the jetpack on its back with flight, especially with the ability to transform the entire body into a giant broadsword for easier transportation. To top it off, his 2 arms have giant bulges on the top so curved metal hooks can appear or disappear at will, while the right hand has the ability to transform into a high-powered cannon. With these features, it's no wonder why the engineers were struggling with finding the right fuel for it. But I have read 'Secrets of the Darkest Art' enough to know what to do and I am ready for what is to come.

Slowly, I raise my normal hand and touch her face. She gasps as I remove the Force from her mind, allowing her to wake up completely. "Hello Gabrielle." I say nonchalantly.

She freezes from looking around and turns her head to stare at me. "You." She growls, looking angry.

"Me."

"Where are we?" She asks, having never been in a normal facility, let alone one from the greater galaxy.

"You don't need to know the name. What you need to know is that we are on Mars, so you won't be leaving. I want your help in a ritual that will make sure that the wizards burn." I answer, maintaining a calm and bored tone. I find that the particular attitude always creeps people out more than anything else.

Gabrielle looks horrified at my response, lowering her hand down the side of the table but I don't really care. "…You want to destroy the wizarding world? You want me to help you, even though you took Victoria from her?" Her tone is starting to become increasingly angry and the Dark Side starts radiating from her.

"Look, her name is not Vicotria, it's Cindy. Also, I overheard their conversation about searching for me harder to make me come back, if they got desperate enough, Fleur would have used our own daughter as blackmail." I answer, my calm tone disappearing and replaced by an angry one. "But enough questions. I do not require your consent for this ritual, so I will…"

I never got to finish the sentence as Gabrielle whirls into action, holding a scalpel in her hand. I am so stunned by a girl her age actually doing this that she manages to stab me in the right eye. I scream in pain, whirling around in confusion and feeling the blood trickling down my face and…I can't see out of my right eye anymore! Gabrielle looks terrified of her actions but jumps off the table and makes her way to the heavy blast door on the left of the room. I stop screaming in pain, ripping the scalpel out and throwing it to the ground as true power and fury courses through my body. She will suffer a slow and the most painful death I can muster.

An idea forms in my mind on what to do, and I give a grin that would fill Jack the Ripper himself with fear. I lift the Demon's Hand and concentrate on her limbs. As Gabrielle continues running, she finds herself falling to the ground. Looking behind, she realizes that both her legs had fallen off, bleeding on the ground. Still smiling, I pull her towards me, continuing my work and making her arms fall off as well. "You and all your kind made me what I am. So, I'm going to ruin your pretty little face." I growl out, then grip her by the neck. Making quick work, I smash her face against the top of the table she once rested on. I lift her up, noticing that her nose his broken and bleeding badly. Deciding on more, I smash her face against the table again and again and again, laughing maniacally the entire time.

After the 3rd strike, I throw her backwards and she lands on her back. Her face is completely unrecognizable now, blood coating nearly each inch of her face and quite a lot of her hair, with her nose smashed to the point where it will never recover. I walk over to her and use the Force to summon the scalpel to my hand. "You have not suffered enough, but I can't keep you in this realm of existence much longer. Good night, Gabrielle." With those last words, I stab the surgical knife into her brain. She gets out a gasp of air before going still and the light in her eyes going out, turning dull and glass-like. I sit up and scream in pain, pulling the Dark Side into me and concentrating on the lifeless war machine before me. I shout in pain once again as I feel like something is being ripped out of me and after I start coughing, I notice a small silver ball fly out of my mouth and fly towards the silver machine strapped down by thick metal bars.

The silver orb touches the machine's face and sinks inside. The machine lets out a mechanical screech as silver electricity starts crackling all around and the joints start moving. In a fit of strength, it manages to rip off one of the metal bars holding it on place before taking off the 2nd one. It then collapses onto one knee for a second before standing back up. The black screen that makes up its face flares to life, producing a human face that shows confusion. "Where am I? Who am I?" The speaker built into its head asks in a voice that resembles mine.

I stare up at my creation, my own Horcrux, amazement and awe on my face as I look at the machine of my creation. I am so amazed that I barely notice how exhausted and weak I feel right now. "You are at the place where you were created. As for a name, you will be named after the project that made you exist. So, from this day on, your name is…Tiel. Now, will you help me in my journey of cleansing this world and the galaxy as we know it?"

Tiel looks thoughtful then sinks to the ground, bowing in respect. "Emperor Kadabra. You gave me life. For that, I live to serve."

"Good. Good!" I answer, letting out a small laugh reminiscent of a maniac's, ignoring the corpse of Gabrielle land her parts lying all around me. My reborn Sith Empire is now well on its way to becoming one of the most dangerous organizations in the galaxy.

All I need for my empire to truly strike fear into the hearts of anyone who would dare oppose us, such as the Republic and their precious Jedi Order, is Earth and her millions of people.

* * *

 _AN:_ Wow. This was a LOT longer than I was expecting. Then again, considering this is a massive time skip that addressed a lot of things I wanted to get out, I'm not really that surprised.

So yeah, that's how Kadabra lost his eye and how Tiel along with Cindy Peverell came into existence. I admit, the stabbing of the eye and Gabrielle's violent death was a little excessive, but considering that it's speculated that one has to be in immense pain for their soul to be severed and take over another object, I found it necessary. I'm just guessing but I have the feeling that you also need to be thinking hard of the object that you want your soul to inhabit in order for the ritual to work completely.

Sorry if the speed of the chapter seems off. In all honestly, I just wanted all of this down ASAP so I got carried away.

Anyway, see you next time with the big moment…when the planet Earth is finally invaded.

Later, all, and have a nice day.


	16. Chapter 16: The Invasion of Earth

**July 30** **th**

 **1996**

 **7:00 am Earth time**

 **New Concordia**

 **Mars**

* * *

 **Harrison Peverell's POV:**

* * *

The sounds of marching boots fill the air of the underground city. From the bridge that connects the docking bay to the Supreme Admiral's office, I watch as every mandalorian gets suited up in full battle armor, sheathing their plasma rifles on their backs and making sure each weapon works properly before marching in a giant wave of pure black towards the bridge.

After another talk with my Supreme Admiral a week ago has confirmed my growing suspicions. The number of starships produced had increased to around 100 ships, the warships composed of Triremes and 50 Drakkars, all of which are hidden inside of the base on Jupiter. The troops are about as hardened as they can get, but some problems have also started rising. Supplies are starting to run out for building new starships and fighters. Considering Death Watch's lifestyle, I suppose it was inevitable for some mandalorians to start losing patience and starting brawling with each other in the local bars just to get some action.

So, yesterday I thought it over with Darth Drakon's help and we agree that if there was ever a right time to invade Earth before things started going downhill, now is that time. That's right, my 3 fellow Sith have come to my mansion after the year at Hogwarts and those damned NEWT testers had the audacity to come to my house. As I planned, I used the Force to persuade the tester to give me an Exceeds expectations on all my core Hogwarts classes and may or may not have damaged the old woman's memory stripping any trace of my house from her memory. My bad. To celebrate the end to that madness, I made sure that all my fellow Sith have their own lightsabers that fit their various styles. Anyway, once we came to that revelation, I contacted Vizsla again and ordered him to rally all the troops at this precise time and day for when the invasion that everyone has spent years preparing for will finally begin. I think almost every Sith would die for the chance of being declared the rulers of an entire planet as a birthday present. It took a frickin' long time to figure out attacks, high priority targets and how to destroy certain areas of the Wizarding world and then make sure the Admirals and Captains were notified of every little detail.

To took a really long time to wake myself up at the early hour, struggle to wake 3 more teenagers without getting myself killed and do our normal morning routines, we walk out of the manor and onto an Arrow-class transport. I had looked back and watched Kreacher on the doorstep, holding Cindy in his arms while giving a ghost of a smile to me, to which I smiled back before continuing my brief walk. Once everyone is strapped into one of the 20 black leather seats, 10 on each side, the ship reactivates its cloaking engine, flies back into the planet's atmosphere, where it enters beamspace and is directed to the docking bay. There, I get out and meet with one of my newest Admirals, Herpo the Foul himself. Ever since I murdered Gabrielle and made a Horcrux out of Tiel, I began tinkering with Force techniques that deal with the soul itself. It is because of that, that I decided to give rebirth to Herpo so I can learn much more. And after having Peter Pettigrew captured while his 'allies' were out, I managed to learn the technique to giving rebirth that he did for Voldemort, and after Vizsla had the honor of ending the ancient Jedi line of Pettigrew, I recreated what I learned and managed to pull him back to the world of the living. It took him a while to get him caught up with the modern world, but when he was caught up, he helped develop my forces to whole new levels and provided the one thing I could never do: how to mass produce the mythical Greek Fire, make it more stable yet dangerous than the normal variant, and place it safely into missiles for the warships' and even fighters' use. In exchange, I made sure he was a man of high standing in my small army and taught him how to use the Dark Side of the Force. Speaking of magical society, I can honestly say they are screwed up the ass. The Wizarding World has finally come to believe that Voldemort has come back and now are doing everything they can to try and stop him from ruling their society with an iron fist. Of course, Cedric and Hermione have finally lost faith in the society they live in and have joined the Death Eaters and Life Bringers respectively. The two groups are now at literal war with each other and the Order of the Phoenix is overwhelmed in trying to stop the attacks one side unleashes on another and trying to find me. Funny thing; Voldemort announced to the Wizarding World that I am the one who defeated him that fateful Halloween night in 1981 and since then, everyone has been scrambling over themselves to find me and persuade me to join their cause. The fools they all are.

I stand there next to the railing, garbed in a black chestplate covered by my dark blue robes and watch the scene with my only good eye. Immediately after Tiel was born, the mandalorians came in and while some stayed behind to clean up the mess I made, the rest had me hauled off to the infirmary where my useless eye was removed and a metal eye filled the slot, with metal plates installed around it so it won't fall out in the event of a battle and the symbol of my Empire imprinted on it. The symbol is essentially a vertical infinity symbol with a sword sticking down the center. Oh boy, did Dap get freaked out when she saw my replacement eye the first time, not even mentioning when she found out minutes later that I have a daughter to take care of.

On my left, Draco, Daphne and Neville stand respectively, each one dressed in chestplates that fit their varying physiques. On my right, Admiral Herpo in his loose black robes with silver linings stands with Supreme Admiral Vizsla in his Admiral's uniform and a younger Admiral I can't remember the name of right now also stand tall, all of them watching the massing army without even blinking.

The army continues to continue getting in line before everyone is present and accounted for, I stare down at the square-shaped mass of black, yellow goggles from their helmets staring back up at me with equal interest. After a moment of silence, I speak to the crowd.

"Brothers and sisters! I must congratulate you on your work! You have worked for years to make weapons of war unlike anything the galaxy will ever see. Now, I am sure you are wondering as to why I had my Supreme Admiral rally all of you at this hour. Let me make it clear to each and every one of you. Your long wait has finally come to an end; in a few short hours, we will make the planet known as Earth…ours."

The entire army cheers loudly at the official announcement of the wait being over. Judging by the ecstasy radiating from the Force right now, the wait has been even more agitating than I had originally anticipated.

"No more will we have to hide underground! No more will we have to hold back! Get to your transports and they will take you to the Fleet. You will be given your orders from there. Good luck and may the Force be with us. Glory for our Empire!"

"Glory or Death! Glory or Death! GLORY OR DEATH!" The soldiers chant then start cheering loudly once again before dispersing into squads of 20.

"Admirals, get to your ships and join the rest of the Fleet. I will lead the _Black Phoenix_ personally to capture Washington DC." The 3 Admirals nod and walk past us towards our personal docking bay. "So…how did I do, compared to most members of the Wizengamot?"

"Not bad. For a rallying speech that is." Dap responds, a smirk most would say cold forming on her lips.

"Oh, how you wound me." I answer with a sarcastic tone then walk over a peck her on her lips. "Good luck when the invasion starts."

"I don't need luck, Harry. I have the Force, and that's all I need." With those words, she turns around and walks away to the docking bay where she will take an Assassin-class fighter to her own starship.

"She's right. The Force will guide us to victory." Nev responds, before going off to his own fighter along with Draco. Sighing a little, I follow close behind. Soon, I am on my own personal fighter and fly up to out of the docking bay. Behind me, thousands of fighters fly out of the numerous docking bays spanning the red planet, screeches on either side of me. As we continue our journey towards Jupiter, I can only watch as the fleet, _my fleet_ , emerges from the gas giant, wisps of cloud rolling off some of the ships. The fleet of 100 ships composed of the Trireme-class light warships and Drakkar-class heavy warships get into a V-shaped formation with the _Black Phoenix_ leading the tight formation. The ancient, black warship, if it could, would cast a shadow over the rest of the ships. I pilot the fighter through the open space until the docking bays on the Leviathan-class Star Destroyer opens up, permitting me entry along with 10 Arrow-class transports.

I walk past the Imperial soldiers as they start marching around to get to their various battle stations until I reach the bridge. Captain Karath is already standing in front of the active comm table, barking orders to the deck officers who are running around in organized chaos. All the while, an officer would occasionally bark a report from a certain sector of the ship. But once I start walking forward, everyone notices me and stops simultaneously. They all stare at me and through the Force, I feel both exhilaration that finally getting some action and fear of my appearance and me getting angry with them. Oh, the perks of being a Sith are aplenty. "Captain Karath." I call to the mandalorian, saluting him.

"My Emperor." Karath replies, saluting me in the same manner then bowing deeply. "I am pleased to report that the _Black Phoenix_ is ready to attack the city of Washington, DC. The fighters are being refueled for the assault and the mandalorians at every Peverell Corporation outpost are on standby."

I smirk openly at hearing the report, then turn my attention to the monitor as the mandalorian woman appears on the screen, wearing a crisp black suit with a white undershirt and a tie with a button holding the symbol of Peverell Corporation on her right breast. "The time has come. Initiate Order 69 and begin the land invasion. Remember, I want as many normal alive and have a strict code on who survives the Great Fire." The 'Great Fire' is the name I came up with since I will literally be burning the old society to the ground for a new, better one to rise from the ashes.

"It shall be done, my Emperor." The woman says before she stands at attention and the projection cuts out.

I then turn to my captain. "Captain, have the ships break formation to seek out their targets. Soon, we shall take the next step to exacting our vengeance against the galaxy." I mutter the last part as I watch from my spot on the bridge as the bridge once again explodes into action and the ship lurches forward before making its way to the planet's surface. The cloaking devices are deactivated right now, but I don't care.

Today is the day where the illusions are cast off, for they will serve no more purpose.

* * *

 **8:30 am Earth time**

 **Potter Manor**

 **England, Europe**

 **Earth**

* * *

 **3** **rd** **Person POV:**

* * *

Hailey Potter stares out the open window of her room, a solemn look on her face.

Everyone has been searching everywhere for her older brother, but it's like he disappeared from the face of the planet…again.

Ever since Lord Voldemort himself announced at the Ministry of Magic that Harrison was the one who ultimately defeated him, the Potter parents have been distraught and erratic with every action they take while Hailey herself has lost all her happiness. No matter how much Ron tried to support her, she can't fight the emptiness in her stomach. Especially since her friend Hermione had abandoned the Order and became a member of the muggleborn terrorists known as the Life Bringers.

Sighing for about the 2nd time that day, Hailey gets out of bed, grabs her wand and is about to walk out of her room when a massive explosion goes off, knocking Hailey forward and onto her hands and knees. The very world spins around her as she looks up and pulls herself up onto her feet. Hailey then looks back at her room, watching as bright blue fire engulfs everything it can. Not wanting to stick around and get burned alive, Hailey starts running down the staircase to the 1st floor. Both her parents are standing her, wands at the ready with the entire Weasley family, including Bill's new girlfriend Fleur and excluding Percy Weasley, also standing there, poised and ready for battle. "What's going on?" I demand as I reach the bottom of the steps. All around us, more explosions go off. The house shakes violently, dust raining from the ceiling and some of the wooden panels on the ceiling start cracking.

"Someone is attacking the entire Wizarding World. Diagon Alley is a warzone, the Ministry is lost and the Burrow has already been burned to the ground. We need to get to Hogwarts now!" James says quickly, pulling out some Floo powder and flicking some into the fireplace while shouting, "Hogwarts!"

The fireplace burns with the familiar green flames and the Weasley kids start running into the fireplace one by one, escaping the destruction and the rising temperatures. Once Fleur runs through, I am about to follow when another explosion goes off and a squad of 20 soldiers wearing the most bizarre black battle armor that is essentially a fusion of the outfit doctors wore during the days of the Black Death and ancient Roman armor. As the soldiers raise their rifles, ready to attack, they suddenly lower them again when a woman wearing a black chestplate and holding twin lightsabers that both glow with an unnatural black light. The hood on her black cloak is pulled up so her face is coated in shadows. "Your reign is at an end, wizards." She says with the coldest voice Hailey had ever heard in her life, worse than even Lucius Malfoy's.

"Hailey, go! We'll hold her off." Arthur says, then lifts his wand to attack, before Molly suddenly rockets to the roof. She smashes into the ceiling, her skin starting to turn red from being exposed to the increasing heat around them. "Molly!" Arthur screams, waving his wand to try and reverse what is happening to his wife. Sadly, that moment he took his attention off the enemy cost him any openings and the woman used the arm that wasn't raised to throw one of her lightsabers, cutting him in half. She then walks forward, disabling her Force power and using her other lightsaber to impale Molly on it as she is about to fall to the ground.

"No!" Ron screams, tears leaking down his face as the woman throws Molly's lifeless corpse to the ground then turns to the duo, who are the only people to not go through the Floo.

"Time for you to die." The woman said, raising her face enough for Hailey to see the woman's glowing amber eyes.

She is about to walk forward when a wooden panel falls to the ground, blue fire eating away. "General, we need to get out of here." One of the soldiers, who has a white stripe running along his left arm, calls to the woman.

She just nods in agreement, then uses the Force to pull her lightsabers to her, deactivating them and all of them run out. "We got to go." Hailey shouts at Ron, dragging him through the Floo as the burning house finally collapses in on itself.

* * *

 **12:45 pm Earth time**

 **Outside the White House**

 **Washington DC, USA**

 **Earth**

* * *

 **Harrison Peverell's POV:**

* * *

I can only smile as he stares up at the morning sky, watching as 10 American fighters soar overhead and engage in a dogfight with 20 Assassin-class fighters, the _Black Phoenix_ hanging high in the air. Sadly, Peverell Corporation's products only extended to guns, grenades and missiles, not fighter planes and battleships so the world still has some small fraction of the defenses they once had. But considering the Assassins are built for traveling at extreme speeds, they easily evade the fighters and fire the rotating plasma blasts. Some of the enemy pilots manage to evade in time but most get struck by the plasma, the shots melting through the fighter in certain parts, like the engine and wing. The planes then lose their balance and crash to the ground, exploding in a ball of fire. Fortunately, the pilots managed to eject from their planes in time. Bad news; my soldiers on the ground manage to get stunning shots on them, completely knocking them out.

The comm device on my right wrist starts beeping and I push it. Vizsla appears on the screen with a wide smile on his face. "Report."

"I have managed to secure New York and the Magical Congress of the United States of America has been annihilated, along with all the adult Force-sensitives. All of the survivors have already migrated to Ilvermorny." Vizsla responds.

"What of the recruits and casualties?"

"About 1,500 Force-sensitives, all 13 or under as you requested, have been captured and secured along with the normals. They are already being integrated into the new way of life. For casualties, we have lost a Trireme battleship to the Americans launching a nuclear bomb on it."

"Shit. Very well, begin attacking Ilvermorny and make sure all of the adult wizards are killed. I want the school intact since it will become Sith training grounds. Give the order for certain schools, like Durmstrang, to be torn down and their resources used to build new Academies."

Vizsla nods and the transmission cuts off. I start cursing in perfect Spanish for several minutes, frustrated that a live nuclear bomb had managed to be of use to the enemy. My corporation managed to secure a copy of the nuclear codes and managed to strip Russia of their nuclear power, but didn't have time to take care of America. Oh well. Another transmission starts coming in, and Drakon appears. "Report."

"The Life Bringers' facilities have all been destroyed and my family Manor has been burned to the ground. I must say, Tiel is quite effective in mass destruction and ruthless at his job. Most of the Death Eaters, including Nagini the snake, died in the attack. The survivors have already fled to Hogwarts. We lost an entire squad to make sure the casualties are as high as possible. I also wanted to let you that I found something you might take interest in."

I raise an eyebrow at hearing that piece of news. "What might that be?"

"I found a young baby with silver hair at the house named Delphi Riddle. She's much stronger with the Force than most people on this planet. When we got her to safety, I ran a blood test to see who her parents are. Believe it or not, her mom is Aunt Bellatrix and her dad is some wizard man named Tom Marvolo Riddle."

I stare at the screen, baffled for a few seconds. Then I burst out laughing hysterically, something that startles a nearby squad of soldiers. "Draco, do you have any idea how ironic this is? Tom Marvolo Riddle is Voldemort's real name. By the Force, how did a racist bastard like him feel enough love to have sex and produce a child? That matters not at this point, how goes the rest of the invasion?"

"Extremely well, my Emperor. All of the designated targets have already been captured and the people secured. Russia is quickly proving to be a much greater challenge to conquer, especially in the old Soviet Union bases, but nothing my men can't handle. There are also pockets of resistance in other areas of the world, such as the Scandinavian mountains, the Middle East and North Korea, but the rest of the planet is safely under our control. Most of the Wizarding world is nothing more than fire and ash, and the goblins have declared their neutrality in the occupation. Only the 11 main wizarding schools remain as strongholds for the wizards' way of life."

I grin wickedly at the report. "Excellent, excellent Darth Drakon. Take several squads of soldiers and just make sure no one leaves Hogwarts alive. There are tunnels out of the castle all around Hogsmead so burn down the village and kill everyone there. When your fellow officers have finished wiping out the populations inside the wizarding schools, they will join you. Prepare a portable holographic device to be launched at the school. Tomorrow, the last stand of all wizardkind will commence."

"It shall be done." With that, the projection cuts off, leaving silence. I look across the damaged streets of the former capital of the USA, corpses on the ground of mandalorians and soldiers. I can only smile as the Force reeks of all those who have died today and the chaos that has completely consumed the world.

Today marks the beginning of my Sith Empire and the end of the Galactic Republic.

* * *

 **July 31** **st**

 **10:35 am Earth time**

 **Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry**

 **Scotland, Europe**

 **Earth**

* * *

 **Hailey Potter's POV:**

* * *

Over the last few hours, I have seen things I wouldn't wish on anyone and more emotions than I have felt in my life.

Fear, misery, sadness, and a burning rage all mingling with my desire to avenge our fallen society burns deep down. To kill all those who burned my home and hundreds of other to the ground and to kill the goblins who only stood idly as we burned.

I let out a long sigh and continue to stare out from my hidden spot on the astronomy tower. Before me, 2 of those strange flying ships that are shaped like the ancient Greek trireme hover in the air while enemy soldiers patrol on the ground. They can't enter the castle because of the wards that we all pitched into to create. Even farther away, I can see the ruins of the Quidditch field, collapsed on itself, and the once-great village of Hogsmead that is now nothing more than ruins of fire and smoke still billowing into the sky. So many more people died after that attack.

I continue watching the grassy field and the enemy patrolling around when I feel someone tapping my shoulder. I whirl around to attack the person who snuck up behind me but find that it's just the Weasley twins. "Hey, Dumbledore's about to make a big announcement to us." Fred says quickly but silently.

"Yeah, we just got 300 more refugees from Durmstrang Institute as well. Said that their school was attacked and that their home is no longer safe. Blimey, our enemy is thorough. If only Harrison was here, he'd know what to do." George adds, looking deeply solemn.

"All right. Let's get back." I say, cursing under my breath. More are dead, and for what? Shaking my head lightly, the 3 of us silently run down the Astronomy Tower, making sure to stay low. Once we're back under considerable cover, we run down the long, winding stone corridors until we come to the Great Hall. The entire hall is packed to the brim with 1,000 people, the last of wizarding society. There are even some small children in the Hall, crying over their dead relatives or families. As I look around, I notice Ron talking with a certain girl with bushy brown hair. "Hi Ron. Hi Hermione." I say her name with a touch of bitterness over her betrayal.

Hermione stops arguing with Ron and looks at me. She is currently wearing forest green robes over a black shirt and camouflage-colored pants. "Hello Hailey." She says, with a touch of bitterness in her voice.

"What's going on here?" I ask, seeing the obvious tenseness between my best friend and my former friend.

"I was talking to Hermione and she was demanding from me why we aren't out on the battlefield trying to attack them." Ron says angrily.

"Don't you mock me. I just pointed out to this idiot here that we are all cowering in here when we should we out there fighting for our survival." Hermione says angrily.

"And I said that we need time to coordinate, set up actual defenses and find out what we are up against." Ron replies, his face going a little pink from rage. Ever since he saw his parents murdered at my old house, he has become much more serious about life and has a shorter fuse than ever.

"Quiet, children. Dumbledore's making a statement." Delores Umbridge hisses to them, her toad-like face wracked with grief. But not for the amount of people who died; I can tell she's grieving over the loss of her job and being trapped in a boarding school she has few good memories of and muggleborns. I can't help but smirk in satisfaction since I made sure to cause as much pain for her as possible, using magic to spray paint on every new rule she set up slogans like 'Seek the Truth', 'Think for Yourselves', inspirational stuff like that. How I got the paint…well, I may or may not have had Fred and George slip me some paint, enhanced by magic so it's even harder to scrape off than normal paint. The best part; no one ever managed to pin any of the artwork on me.

I then direct my attention to the staff table where Dumbledore is. For once, he is only wearing plain grey robes and a long grey hat that shadows his face. "Witches and wizards, some we are familiar with and some from distant lands. We have come together to face the greatest threat that our people have ever faced. No matter what stance we have in life." Dumbledore's eyes slide towards Voldemort and the last 10 Death Eaters who are standing in the corner, "Or who's loyal to who. But we must make a stand here and now. Our very way of life is at risk. For once, please put aside your animosity towards one another and unite against a common enemy. Let us…"

Dumbledore's speech is interrupted when a loud whirring sound can be heard outside the castle. Suddenly, the center window in the smashes inward and a strange, black-colored disk soars through the air. Dumbledore jumps to the side, pointing his wand at the device which lands flat on the ground. Absolute silence passes for several passes before the strange device glows blue and the image of a cloaked man stands there, the hood pulled up so the face is obstructed like the womans' was. After another second of silence, he spoke.

"Witches and wizards. I welcome you to my new Empire and salute you for valiantly holding out against all odds, even though you have lost. You might be wondering what is going on and why I am doing this. So let me explain in a way even the most dull-witted among you can understand. People on this world have asked this question over and over again: Are we alone in the universe? The ultimate answer is no. There are thousands of alien species that roam the galaxy and even humanity exists beyond your solar system. But you have not had the privilege of being a part of the larger galaxy because you have been holding yourselves back for so long. All of your governments have been so twisted by corruption, tyranny and personal agendas that you have remained bound to this world, fighting with each other for 10 square feet of ground to cover your own. But with the arrival of my Empire, you will be freed of that restraint. For you, along with everyone else, are now citizens of the Imperial planet that shall now be forever known as…Gaia." The man then throws his hood back and I can't fight the gasp that escapes my throat. For I am staring at the face of my brother, marred by a strange metal contraption that covers one of his eyes. "And I, Harrison Peverell, better known as Darth Kadabra, will be your ruler. I am coming soon. Choose wisely on which side of the battle you will be on." He grins widely, making him look truly horrifying before the transmission cuts out.

I fall to my knees and glare at the strange device, tears leaking down my face. Why would Harry do this to us?! Ron then walks to my side and grabs my shoulders. "I'm so sorry." Ron whispers, looking saddened for me about this, but furious about the betrayal. All around us, people start shouting at each other, wanting to spill the blood of those who took their homes from them.

"Silence!" Dumbledore shouts, shocking everybody out of their state of rage and they quiet down once more. "Everyone remain calm. We will find a way out of this."

"He's right." A male voice says, walking up to the headmaster. Hailey recognizes him as Jeff Connor, a young adult who used to attend Ilvermorny with curly, wild dark brown hair with fair skin and sky-blue eyes, freckles sprinkled across his cheeks. He was among the first to escort the survivors of the Ilvermorny attack into Hogwarts, all of them telling the same tale of the horrible massacring and their younger family members being taken from them. The same story has been repeated for all the other refugees and no matter how many times I hear it, the pang of loss always rings in my heart. "We need to secure a place where we can apparate to safety. Until we can figure that out, we need to prepare for a last stand."

"Indeed, halfblood. We shall show you how proper defense are made." Voldemort hisses, then he and the Death Eaters start walking away from the Great Hall, their cloaks billowing behind him.

"Bastard." I mutter as I stare at the back of one of their youngest members, Cedric Diggory. Sadly, his parents don't have anything to say on his change since they died when the 'Great Fire' as it is being dubbed broke out. My stare turns into a glare as I watch Voldemort walking away; he is the same man who tried to kill me and my family all those years ago and murdered so many others, so I should wreck vengeance on them without a second thought. But since we need him and his skills to make it through the day, I need to restrain myself around them.

Ron then touches my shoulder, and when I turn around, I notice that he is trying to give a reassuring smile. But I can tell that deep down, he is scared. "Come on. Let's see if we can set up a last stand. I want to go down fighting them."

My mouth has run dry from all the betrayal and recent death so all I can do is nod and chase after him to help set up.

After a good 2 hours, we manage to set up traps on every floor, every corner and witches and wizards find suitable alcoves and hidden rooms to hide in for ambushes. Once we all finish doing our part, we return to the Great Hall for a very tense lunch. The House Elves are still helping mass produce meals to keep everyone fed and happy so some morale can be held. I just sit on the ground, talking with my parents and some of my friends like Lavender, Ginny and Luna Lovegood.

I am about to continue eating my roast beef when I freeze in place. A sense of dread fills my body and I look up. Apparently, I am not the only one to get this vibe since everyone's also looking outside. I can hear a loud shout and the sound of smashing. Forgetting about our lunches, we get back up onto our feet and run out of the Great Hall in a massive swarm. To my horror, Harrison in all his terrible glory is standing there, using his deformed monstrosity he calls an arm to punch the barrier around the school repeatedly. The force behind his punches was so strong that tiny webs of cracks have already started in the barrier. After a minute of punching, the entire barrier starts splitting apart and tiny pieces rain to the ground. "Well, that was annoying." I can hear him say nonchalantly before he faces us again. Hundreds of those black-armored alien soldiers appear behind him with 2 people walking in front of them and making it to Harrison's side.

Yet again, I feel betrayed once more when I notice that it's Daphne Greengrass and Draco Malfoy. Daphne is wearing a black cloak over a black chestplate while Draco has no armor, just fancy robes and a collar that sticks up into the air. "Draco, what are you doing with them?" Lucius asks, shocked at this turn of events.

"Because this side set me free from my chains that you and your society put on me. I owe these people my life." Draco responds coldly, while Daphne doesn't say a word.

"Now, this is your last chance. You can join me or you can die." Harrison says calmly. Daphne and Draco raise 3 strange black cylinders, two for Daphne and a longer one for Draco and they pressing the button on the side, activating the twin black blades that killed Molly and Arthur and a single blade that glows with a dark red light. I barely notice Ron glaring at Daphne with unbridled fury for her actions.

Fleur steps forward, looking at the man I once considered my older brother with a baleful look. "Why should any of us join you? You took our families from us!" While some may not know it, I certainly got the reference. She is referring to Victoria, her daughter that Harrison took mere months ago.

"I know that we have done terrible things to your people and I admit it. But you do worse things to each other than we ever will to you. Your sister is a fine example of that." Harrison answers calmly. I stare at him, confused. What does Gabrielle have to do with anything? She disappeared months ago, right around the same time Victoria was taken.

"What does my sister have to do with anything?" Fleur asks, shock replacing the swelling anger.

"I mean that your 'allies' are the reason why your sister is no longer in this world." He responds, then pulls out a folded piece of parchment. "This is an official letter from Lord Lucius Malfoy. In it, he details an order for his partners, Lords Crabbe and Goyle, to capture Gabrielle Delacour and bring her to him. If that wasn't not possible, they were ordered to kill her." Fleur's face becomes even more horrified than I have ever seen it then enraged when he turns around to face a stunned Lucius. Right now, I don't know what's a truth and what's a lie, but I do know that something's up.

"…How can this be?" Fleur asks, her voice shaking heavily.

"I don't know why it happened, but one of my men salvaged this from Malfoy Manor. It certainly explains the Death Eaters' presence in Paris. I tried to help her, but the Death Eaters got violent and killed her. I'm so sorry." He then bows his head in symphony. Oh yeah, something's definitely going on behind the scenes.

Fleur by now is barely standing from her shaking in anger. Is it just me or did her eyes flash amber for a split second? "That's a lie." Lucius shouts to Harrison, glaring at him hatefully. However, I also notice people glaring at Mr. Malfoy as well, entertaining the idea that our enemy might be telling the truth.

"Is it? Look into your heart, Fleur. Ask yourself if you really are on the side worth fighting for. If the ties you have there are worth staying for." Harrison then tilts his head to the side and gives a kind smile, which looks really out of place on his evil face.

Several tense moments pass before Bill Weasley runs up and pulls his girlfriend into a hug. "It's alright, Fleur. Don't listen to anything he says." He says soothingly, glaring daggers at Harrison all the while.

"Bill…I'm sorry. But you are in my way." Fleur says then a flash of green light appears between the 2. Bill's arms go limp and he falls backwards to the ground. Fleur is holding up her wand then points it at Lucius. "This is for my sister." She then sends an invisible force of energy at Lucius and Narcissa Malfoy, and to my absolute shock, thin red lines start forming along their necks before they slide off the bodies, both of which also smack the ground hard.

I can't believe Fleur actually did that! I've known her long enough to know that she does not have the qualities that all killers possess. Suddenly, I hear a loud clapping sound and we all look towards Harrison, watching him clap in applause and an apologetic look on his face. Even his own allies are staring at him oddly. "Well done, Fleur. I must admit, I wasn't expecting you to do that. I will freely admit that I was wrong about you. As compensation, I can give you a better life. Get her to safety." Two troops walk forward and gently grab the blonde veela's shoulders who walks towards them, and they walk away from the castle. Harrison watches as the trio leave then turns back to the crowd. "Now, I would like you all to know that I am not without mercy. If anyone else wants to join my people and have a better life, step forward now and I shall personally ensure you are given the respect you deserve. If you are worthy."

Another tense few moments pass before another person steps forward from out of the crowd. "Hermione?" I ask, unable to comprehend the terror that makes up today.

She looks at me, with a cold look that I have never seen on her face before. However, she doesn't say anything else to us before she continues walking forward and bows in respect. "Well, well. I was always impressed with your intellect during my time here at Hogwarts, but this is an unexpected move. Do take satisfaction in the fact that all slavery and domination that the purebloods love will be put to an end. Get her out of here." Two more soldiers escort the bushy-haired traitor away from the battle as well. "Anyone else?"

An even longer moment of silence passes, but before anyone can say anything, the pink-loving maniac known as Umbridge walks forward. She continues walking until she reaches the enemy crowd and doesn't even bother bowing. "Ah, Delores Umbridge. Descendant of the ancient Jedi Umbridge."

"What's a Jedi?" She asks rudely, interrupting him in the middle of talking.

To his credit, he maintains a neutral face after her question. "The Jedi are the polar opposites of us, fighting for the 'greater good', to quote Dumbledore. Admittedly, they are the most selfless group I know; but it also leaves them blind and open for self-destruction. I can sense your selfishness, trying to use me so you can push your opinions upon the world. I'm sorry, Umbridge, but your selfishness would lead to insubordination or worse, something I don't want to bother with. As thus, I deem you unworthy of working for me." He lifts up his own metal cylinder, pushing a button and slashing at her downward with the long red blade. The blade cuts Umbridge in half, down the middle. My fellow wizards and I back up a little in shock at his violent actions. He then looks at us, a cold smile making its way onto his face. "It is clear to me now that no one else will join me willingly. Troops, Wall formation and fire at will."

With those last words, all of the troops form a line of 2, the front lines grabbing a different cylinder from their noticeably grey belts and produce a large, wall-shaped green energy shield while the ones in the back lift their strange rifles. Those same rifles then start raining rather large blue energy blasts onto the crowd of wizards. We all back into the castle, not being able to help those who are now lying dead on the ground. Swishing his wand around, Dumbledore shuts the wooden gate closed, activating all the locks on it. "Everyone! Secure your posts and make sure to ambush the troops. It's the only way to take them down." Dumbledore shouts over the crowd, who can only watch in horror as those strange shots go off over and over again, each one damaging the doors more. "Minerva, hold a line outside the Great Hall. James, get all the supplies to the Whomping Willow and transport them out of here. We need to hold off long enough to escape to our rendezvous point."

Everyone nods, the terror filling the air so thickly that it could almost be cut with a knife. I run down the winding corridors I have walked down so many times before. Paintings are screaming and shouting at each other, demanding to know what's going on. I keep on running, ducking under those blue plasma blasts 3 of the soldiers' fire at me and some other wizards. Two of the more unfortunate wizards, including Ginny, are hit dead-on and their bodies smash against the wall before falling to the ground in heaps, their blood decorating the walls. I stop running and cast a spell I read about in a used 'Advanced Potions' book I found last year. "Sectum Sempra!" The spell strikes the soldiers and they fall to their knees, screaming in pain. Taking advantage of the pause, I cast another spell. "Incendio Maximus!" The wave of fire hits the soldiers and they all fall to the ground, rolling around in an attempt to put the fire out before they go still.

I stare down at my wand and myself, not believing my actions. I am pulled from my moment of silence when I hear a loud shout behind me. I turn around and watch as the remaining Death Eaters run down the halls, firing Avada Kedavra curses at the enemy soldiers charging after them, but then Harrison leaps out from behind the soldiers and slashes apart the Death Eaters. After mere seconds, Voldemort and Cedric are the only 2 remaining and they fight the self-proclaimed Emperor or something from a distance.

Voldemort throws spells at Harrison that I have never seen used before, such as Fiendfyre in the shape of large snakes and freezing charms. Harrison just dodges the blasts, weaving through the spells with extreme acrobatics I wouldn't have thought possible before Voldemort sends a green beam of magic, to which Harrison lifts his red energy sword and it manages to absorb the magic. Slowly, he walks forward more and more until he uses an invisible power to throw the Dark Lord's balance off and slash at his hand. It falls to the ground in a bloody lump and he screams in pain, using his other hand to grab the stump. "You wizards are all the same. Just hit you the right way and you start mewling in pain. This is why using the Force is so much easier than magic, despite some advantages. Like your dead Horcruxes." Harrison says coldly, then slashes Voldemort across the chest. Right now, I am super confused. What's a Horcrux?

Voldemort looks up at his opponent, and for the first time in my life, I see a glint of fear flicker across his face. Harrison doesn't stop his rampage, slashing upward. As a result, Voldemort's head is lopped off and makes a sickening slapping sound. I just stare at the scene, trying to digest this. Lord Voldemort, the Worst Dark Lord of the Century with Grindlewald being a close second, is dead. Harrison then turns towards me then throws his lightsaber in a way that it spins in the air. With reflexes I didn't know I possessed, I dodge to the right to avoid the attack, the blade heating up my face and cutting a strand of my reddish-black hair. As Harrison uses one hand to pull the blade towards it, he lifts his deformed hand and tries to send some kind of energy blast at me. But Cedric tackles me and the next thing I know, I feel like I am being shoved through a very tight corkscrew. The feeling only lasts for a second before we land on the ground again. I look up and notice that we are near the Whomping Willow. I then look at Cedric and notice his saddened face. "You saved me. Why?"

"Because I'm so sorry for joining the Death Eaters. I lost faith in wizarding society and wanted it to change, but I never wanted it to be destroyed." Cedric says, looking down in slight shame.

We can't converse any further when I hear a massive tide of running footsteps. Fortunately, I notice that they are all wizards, about 60 people in all, my friend Rubeus Hagrid standing taller than anyone else. Dumbledore then notices me and runs to us. "My dear girl, we have lost the castle. Several people, including young Ms. Astoria Greengrass, have been taken hostage by the enemy and everyone else is dead. Neville Longbottom had also betrayed us when he joined the battle not 10 minutes ago. We need to escape to our rendezvous point now." Dumbledore says, in a calm but commanding voice. My heart sinks once more at hearing that; to think that a society that millions of people once lived in was reduced to 1,000 today and reduced to 60 in a matter of hours makes me sick to my stomach.

"I can help hold off the enemy while you escape. But you need to make haste. Those troops are well trained and their leaders are even more experienced." Cedric says, standing up and brushing the dust off of him.

Some members of the group, namely Jeff and Ron, glance at Cedric with suspicion on their faces, but don't say anything as they pass by and towards the Whomping Willow. The knob of the tree had already been pushed so it is not flailing around, trying to kill everyone. Slowly but surely, everyone is herded inside the hidden corridor that leads to the Shrieking Shack. Eventually, I follow behind the last of the crowd, casting cutting spells at enemy soldiers that come our way, only for said spells to be deflected by those strange energy shields. Inside the tunnel, I follow closely with Ron to bring up the rear of the pack. I must say, Ron is quite talented with the disarming charm, knocking the strange guns from the enemy's arms while also knocking them off balance from the force behind the spell work.

As we continue backing up, the shots stop going off and a sense of dread fills my body. The same dread that I experience every time I am around the man I once called a brother. "Ron! We need to leave now." I say firmly to my friend.

He obviously feels the same dread and nods in understanding. Suddenly, the familiar hum of the energy sword can be heard and I watch the red glow of the sword of the self-named Darth Kadabra. I continue shooting silent spells at him, nearly stumbling on the wooden steps and climb up. I take a right and run to an old bedroom where both my parents are standing over an old boot. "Hailey! Thank God you're alive. We need to leave…" Mum says then stops when she sees Harrison run down the corridor, weapon at the ready. Her eyes widen in shock then anger before waving her wand in a transfiguration way at a broken splinter of wood. A split second later, the wood is transfigured into a sharpened metal sword and she grabs it, lifting it into the air to block Harrison's strike.

The duel the 2 have is extremely short, since Lily is not a dueler with swords. Harrison easily swats her weapon aside and points his lightsaber to her throat. "Why are you doing this?" Mum demands, tears starting to leak down her face.

"Because your society was to blame for making me into what I am. At least I don't blame you as much as I do the others. You don't have to die."

"Like you killed so many others today?" Mum asks, anger radiating from her. However, Harrison then directs his attention to me, and stabs forward. But before it can stab through my chest, Lily jumps between us. The red-hot blade passes through her chest like wet paper.

"No! Why did you do this?" Harrison asks, looking shocked with himself for once.

"Because…we're all family. I'm so sorry for every terrible thing that has happened to you." With those last words, Lily also goes limp and falls dead. I scream in grief and rage and lift up my wand. With the most concentration I have ever put into a spell, I produce a wave of energy so strong it blasts the monster out of the Shrieking Shack.

"Go! While he's distracted!" Dad shouts, making to grab the boot. I grab it as well, but I look up when I hear stomping and notice dozens of soldiers raising their weapons at us. One of them fires, and strikes Ron on the shoulder, grazing it but leaving a deep would.

"No!" I shout, using my other hand to force his hand onto the boot as well. The portkey activates and the world around us spins violently for several seconds before we land on a dusty ground, the sound of a train riding high above us and dust falls to the ground. I ignore that, along with all of the survivors staring at Dad and me as I hug Ron, begging him to stay alive. I can't bear to lose anyone else today.

At that moment, I make a vow to avenge all those who died today and kill the monster who wears the face of my older brother, Darth Kadabra.

* * *

 **2:30 pm Gaia time**

 **Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry**

 **Scotland, Europe**

 **Gaia**

* * *

 **Harrison Peverell's POV:**

* * *

"Damn it!" I shout, kicking the ground.

The Great Fire is over, the wizarding world is no more and the survivors have gone into hiding. Honestly, I was hoping to kill more wizards before they escaped. Then there is my mother's death. I shake my head, trying to get that image out of my mind. "My Emperor. We have secured the castle of Hogwarts. The House Elves are all dead too." Nev says, after walking up and saluting to me.

"Casualties?"

"We lost about 50 soldiers to the defense, from either defenders or the traps. Even I must admit, those enchanted suits of armor are a lot tougher than they look."

I shrug my shoulders slightly. The wizards put up a surprising defense, but in the end, it was for nothing. "How many survived the attack?"

By now, Supreme Admiral Vizsla walks up and also salutes me. "I have an answer for you on that. Out of 1,000 that originally participated in the battle, only 60 were reported to not have been killed."

Sixty…I smile widely at hearing that, my amber eye flashing. "They are of no threat at the moment. But if they reappear again…I give you permission to use any means necessary to ensure they don't draw another breath. Gather some men and have them clear out the corpses and those paintings. When Herpo gets here to settle into his new home, have him do what he wants with the ghosts. We have a lot of work to do."

Vizsla nods and runs off to give the orders. Dap then walks to my side and slips her hand into mine. "Hey. Are you OK?"

I look at the beautiful face of Dap, torn between telling her the truth or not. I settle on telling it to her later. "I'll tell you later. Just know that after today, I will do anything to make sure you and Cindy are safe." I plant a kiss on the side of her head and together, we watch the mandalorians and Tiel clearing out the castle of corpses and those annoying paintings, stripping it to the bare essentials that are still useful so it can be built back up, into the greatest Sith training facility that the modern galaxy has ever seen or will ever see.

As all this is happening, only one thought rings in my head over and over again: Gaia is finally mine.

* * *

 _AN:_ OK, that definitely was a lot longer than I was expecting.

I am sorry for taking so long with the update; I have finished my school year, and celebration parties and the like were the big thing going on in my life. Let me tell you, it really botched up my writing schedule. I will try to get back to a decent update schedule soon.

See you next time when another time skip happens, but this one will be very important and I will make it as interesting as possible.


	17. Chapter 17: Final Preparations

**July 5** **th**

 **2000**

 **9:30 am Gaia Time**

 **Peverell Manor**

 **Athens, Greece, Europe**

 **Gaia**

* * *

 **Harrison Peverell's POV:**

* * *

When you put your mind to something, it truly is amazing what can be accomplished.

In my case, I had a small army in maybe the tens of thousands, all hardened mandalorians. But after 4 years, I managed to become Emperor of 2 entire planets, with the majority of the civilian populations integrated and living peaceful lives while the military is now in the billions. If I just hit the Republic and Confederacy of Independent Systems right, I can bring an end to their miserable ways of life.

That's right! Just last year, hundreds of systems across the galaxy have proclaimed that they want nothing more than to leave the Republic, and those same systems have formed a Separatist faction. They were smart enough to know the Republic won't let them go, so they have started mass producing a droid army. Of course, after a rather bloody battle on Geonosis, the Clone Wars were declared and war is quickly spreading across the galaxy. That battle was both wonderful and terrible for me. On one hand, hundreds of Jedi and several clones were killed in the battle. But on the other, Jango Fett was killed by the bald Jedi Master, Mace Windu.

I managed to weave some spies into the CIS via captured and reprogrammed protocol droids that got returned, but I am lacking any spies that can't be expended on a moment's whim, and explain the deep suspicion about the whole war in me. Someone is setting the Republic and CIS against each other to whittle the Jedi's numbers, but who?

But that doesn't matter at the moment, for the answer will be revealed in time to me. After excessive detail, I managed to organize my military into 3 groups: Army for the ground forces, Navy for all the sea battles for when I attack worlds like Kamino or Mon Calamari, and Air Force so I can train the best pilots possible so they can at least stand against such aerial aces as Anakin Skywalker. Mars had been converted from a colony world to a planet with cities dedicated to research and developing prototype weaponry. Gaia's moon, renamed Artemis, has turned into a space port for refueling ships and Gaia's defense in the form of a planet-wide shield generator on the moon. That way, if a ship enters the planet without an official Imperial code that every ship of all types must possess, Artemis will be alerted to it and the entire Imperial military force will move to exterminate the potential threat.

Speaking of threats, there are still a surprising amount of people who are rebelling against the Empire are adapting to the new field of play, making them rather infamous among the forces. I mean, there are still several hot spots on the planet where violence often breaks out, such as the Scandinavian mountains and the former land of North Korea, but 2 groups of rebels are far more infamous than the rest. The Mafia make their name in the city of New York and are essentially a collection of every crime family who didn't join my side and all the people who are their allies. The other group, however, is far more concerning in my opinion. The Order of the Phoenix may have gotten their act together, but they are desperate and brave, constantly raiding markets for food, supplies and the essentials to keep them going. But their risks have also started setting them back a little; they have lost 10 more people in the last 4 years and according to rumors from the soldiers who see them out on the field, some of their younger members are starting to suffer various ailments from their excessive time hiding underground (at least, that's the rumor judging by their current condition).

Right now, I am walking down the bronze spiral staircase of my house and carefully lean on the railing as I watch my wife, Dap, trying to get Cindy to get her packs packed up while holding our younger son, Oswald, in one hand. I love both of my children dearly, even though Cindy is also Darth Siren's daughter. After the Great Fire settled down, I taught Fleur in the way of the Dark Side and in a mere 2 years, she earned the title of Darth. She chose the name Siren since the Dark Side enhances her veela allure, allowing her to literally control anyone and lead them to their deaths if she so chooses. Even if she's my children's babysitter if me and Dap are not around, I secretly have Kreacher watching her since her outright cruelty to her enemies leaves me genuinely concerned.

"Daddy!" Oswald shouts when he notices me. Dap looks up at me and I smile.

"Well, are you going to help me with these rascals?" She asks, using the Force to lift up the small suitcase full of Cindy's and Oswald's things in it. Today is the day I declare war upon the Republic and CIS, so ensuring my children's safety is the top priority.

"Yes. I'll take Ozzy." I then use the Force and pull the 2-year old into my arms. He looks up at me, his shining crystal blue eyes and black hair framing his face. Normally, staring into the face of a hardened Sith would frighten anyone, but I manage to keep my illusions up for their sake.

Soon, I hear a loud whirring sound and we walk through the living room, filled with crimson over-stuffed couches and chairs facing a fireplace. What most people don't know is that I hid many secrets in my manor's walls and booby-trapped the entire place in case the wrong kind of person decides to go snooping around. I discovered after the architect finished that he was secretly a rebel from the Mafia in disguise, so I didn't feel bad about ending his miserable life.

As we step out of the manor, we are greeted to the sight of a Nubian ship painted black as space; it was harder to steal from Naboo without drawing attention than I would have thought. It is the official transport ship for people and goblins of importance to me. The side opens up and a man in the black armor of an Imperial Army soldier, with the vertical red plume of a sergeant on his helmet, walks up and salutes me. "We have been expecting you. Your Majesty, please step on board. We will be taking you and your children to New York."

Dap looks at me one last time, giving me a confident smile before taking Oswald back and boarding the ship with the soldier following close behind. The Nubian then lifts off the ground, making my loose dark blue robes billow around me, and flies away from my manor and across the Mediterranean Sea as it heads to North America. I stare at the retreating ship for several long seconds before facing the Arrow-class transport parked next to it, the hatch below the sharp tip open and waiting. Smirking, I drop my disguise and walk casually towards it, my lightsaber hanging at the belt around my waist. When I walk into the hatch and walk up the left staircase, I come face to face with 19 other Imperial Army soldiers in full armor; their sergeant is escorting my family to New York. They are standing at attention, saluting me with deep respect. "Good. Pilot, start this ship up and take us to Hogwarts as soon as possible."

"Yes, my Emperor!" He says, also saluting. Unlike the Army, he is wearing the standard dark brown chestplate, brown pants with the symbol of the Empire on the left leg and leather helmet themed off the British World War 2 pilots of the Imperial Air Force. He then runs up the center staircase towards the bridge where he can control the ship.

I nod in acceptance and walk toward the middle seat on the left side of the transport and sit down as all hatches close and seal themselves. As the ship takes off and also leaves my manor behind, I look around at my personal escort to get a feel for who they are. The soldier on my left has armor that is distinctly feminine and despite the mask of neutrality, she is nervous being around me. The soldier on my right, however, is a little taller than the others and he's obviously got more muscle than the others. His Force signature feels distinctly familiar, but I can't place it. "Soldier." I state the man.

He looks at me, startled for a brief second. "Yes, my Emperor?"

"…What's your name and rank?" I ask, curious as to who he is. Everyone looks at me in surprise, not believing that I am actually talking directly to him. Hey, it usually takes a few hours for a transport to get from Greece to Scotland so I have time on my hands.

"Dursley, sir. Private First-Class Dudley Dursley." He answers, his head bobbing up and down. I must say, the bird-shaped mask over his face really makes it hard to see what is on his face and is quite intimidating. Not that I'm intimidated in the slightest.

I nearly recoil at hearing that. So, my cousin is still alive and has joined the Imperial Army. Given his past with Force-sensitives, I think that his desire to kill the Jedi would be deep. "I thought I recognized you. You're the son of a woman who was killed by the wizards, yes?"

"Yes, my Emperor. I was going to make them suffer for what they did to my family, until you destroyed their world. I am most thankful for that."

"Are you willing to channel that anger, to kill any Jedi who stand in your way?" I ask, testing him to see how far he would go. For the Jedi, everyone in my Empire has heard of them. Thanks to my spies spread across the galaxy, special news channels on the Imperial Network have constant breaking news on the current events in the larger galaxy, detailing such things as actions by the Galactic Senate, battles in the Clone Wars, stuff like that.

"The Jedi are arrogant and weak, and with my squad at my side, I will kill all Jedi who get in our way." Dursley answers, his voice getting noticeably darker.

"Very good. Now, I shall meditate on the Force's will. You shall only wake me when we arrive or my attention is required. Any other time, and I will see to it that you will be on your hands and knees, cleaning the pilot's ships." I can sense the fear break out from a few of the soldiers; and honestly, I can't really blame them. I've heard rumors that the Air Force pilots can get _very_ territorial about their ships and have a reputation of getting outright vicious if their ships get so much as a scratch on them. With that threat sunken in, I get into a meditating position and close my eyes, sinking into the embrace of the Dark Side.

Panic and chaos reigns across the galaxy as the Clone Wars spread, with the citizens being left wide open to be preyed on by criminals. I may not be perfect, but I do at least care about what happens to my people. What the Republic is doing can be seen as necessary, but I still see it as scum.

I lose track of time on how long I am in meditation before I feel a hand on my right shoulder. Relenting, I open my eyes and come face to face with the pilot. "My Emperor, we have arrived."

"Very good." I say, then stand up and walk towards the exit, the soldiers falling into 2 lines on either side of me. Together, we march down the stairs and out of the transport. For the first time in 4 years, I lay eyes on the landscape of Hogwarts.

Herpo has certainly been busy the last few years. The town of Hogsmead was rebuilt, but with clean modern buildings and bustling with soldiers, making this place also be an emergency command center for coordinating attacks. The transport I came on is one of 10 that rings around the school, with concrete paths that lead to the top. An additional one originates from Hogsmead station where all the Force-sensitives arrive to this part of the world via a modernized Hogwarts Express. The castle itself looks the same, but the inside will show how much things have changed.

The reason why I am here is so I can personally see a special group of the 1st class of Force sensitives finish their training. After 4 years of training, only 100 of the original 500 students who make up the first class were weeded out as weak or killed violently, which is better than I was originally hoping for. After they graduated from their 4 years of training at various Sith academies across the planet, they got shipped to Hogwarts for a final month of training before they pick one of 4 designations: Sith Sorcerers, who use runes and radical Force techniques to gain an upperhand in battle, Sentinels, who are going to be the bodyguards of important officials or governors of different regions, and the Sith Knights who will be the army who opposes the Jedi Knights and serve directly under Dap if she joins the fight but mainly serve under Darth Lancelot. A fitting name for Nev since he is one of my closest friends and my champion on the battlefield. As for the last group, I tried to keep them as secret as possible, but word inevitably got out about them. They will be the Mavens; a squad of 100 special ops soldiers who will survive in the damnest of conditions and infiltrate the enemy's ranks to either capture or assassinate high-priority targets. Today, after a week of grueling training the candidates went through, they will go through a 3 series of trials to test their prowess and receive their codenames, along with a reward for the 2 who perform the best.

As we walk up the concrete path, I can't help but notice that security at the docking bays are much tighter than usual. Something else I had heard about is that about 10 days ago, there was an attack on a docking bay in England that resulted in the deaths of 3 Imperial Army soldiers. According to my top scientists, the Order had struck again. However, judging by the state of 2 of the corpses provided, someone else aided the Order in their attack.

Two more soldiers, escorting a pale-faced man wearing a grey suit with black shoulder pads with a bronze star on the right side and grey formfitting pants. "My Emperor. It's good to see you alright." He says with a light German accent, saluting me. But he looks almost afraid of being around me at the moment.

"Yes, now return to your post. I don't have much time at the moment." I answer, referring to the fact that in a few short hours, I need to also get to New York for the official meeting that will state my intentions of going to war.

"Er…yes, my Emperor." The man replies, saluting me and standing aside with his men doing the same. Sighing a little, I smooth out my robes, place my hands behind back and continue walking up the concrete path, my escort marching in sync with my own movements.

After a minute or 2, we arrive at the large steel-colored blast door in the stone archway that makes up the main entrance. The doors creak upward, revealing the main hall. "You have done your job well; rejoin your brothers and sisters in arms outside." They all stand stiffer than ever, then march in formation out of the castle. Whatever they teach the soldiers in the Imperial Army does its job effectively.

I walk towards the wooden double doors, past rows of gleaming suits of armor that line the walls, and use the Force on them. The doors swing inward, hardly making a sound as they do so, and watch as all 395 Force-sensitive students, 100 per table with the 4th table short by 5, stand up, turn towards me and watch with unblinking eyes. At the 2 staff tables, all the teachers are saluting me with deep respect and in the gap between the 2 tables, Herpo himself sits on a large golden throne, with decorations of snakes on the arm and headrests.

He stands up, gripping his staff in hand, and gives me an approving look. "Emperor Kadabra. I am honored to have you grace our presence." He says with his thick Greek accent.

I walk forward towards the staff table, glancing briefly at the students who are wearing identical black formfitting suits. Out of all of the students I glance at, however, 5 of them have reputations of their own. All of them are candidates for the Maven program, but they stand out more than the rest of their classmates.

The first member is Dragonsfist, the only goblin of the group. He has dark red skin, slick black hair, sharp black eyes and is taller than most of his kind, standing about 4' 6". He has a reputation of being fiercely loyal to me and is a master of maintaining any and all equipment that he is given.

The second person is an 18-year-old boy by the name of Daniel Cadmus. He has a long face, pale skin that almost looks unnatural and slightly greasy black hair framing his face and dark brown eyes. According to his bio, he is rumored to be the son of a notorious serial killer from Detroit who was killed in the Great Fire so he was sent to an asylum. Unfortunately, that decision only worsened his condition. When he was recovered from the asylum and started training to be a Sith, it was discovered that he has 2 separate personalities: one being a boy who genuinely cares about his friends and the other being a sadistic monster who is not above brutally mutilating anyone who gets in his way.

The other 3, however, are supposed to be much calmer about their actions. Sixteen-year-old Cecilia Jackson is a shorter girl with a darker skin tone, long black hair and hazel eyes. She was a Texan student of Ilvermorny who held bitterness over her former world's ineffectiveness. Over her years of training, it showed that she was a natural with almost every gun that was put into her hand and is shown to be exceptionally calm in almost any situation.

Then there is Murphy Hargrove, a tall and well-built 16-year-old boy from New York City. He has a round yet hardened face with neatly cropped dark brown hair and sharp ocean blue eyes. He, too, used to attend Ilvermorny, but was also recovered from the massacre that befell their parents. He has shown in combat that he can improvise on the fly and exhibits the greatest leadership out of all his fellow classmates. Although he has also been said to be suborn to a fault if he believes he is right.

The final member, however. I pause for the briefest moment as I look him over calculatingly. This boy's name is Karel Allusis, and is an enigma in every sense of the word. Normally, I would see a 17-year-old boy of average height with pale skin, wavy blue hair and dark blue eyes as a street punk. But after careful monitoring by the teachers, it shows that Karel has actual experience on the battle field and has learned to use his average looks as a way to infiltrate enemy ranks and tear opponents apart from the inside. He even can have a nasty side if the occasion calls for it, if the incident involving himself and the death of 5 of his classmates was any indication. The part that would raise anyone's eyebrows, however, is that he wasn't trained at any of the Sith academies across Gaia.

Dap was the one who got him a slot into the Maven program as a token of gratitude for helping her, our 2 children and about 5 bodyguards out of a dangerous situation involving the entire rebel cell originating from Portugal. Only 10 of the slime survived the attack, but I quickly ended their miserable lives.

After a long minute, I reach the staff table and lift my hand to Herpo, which he takes. "Do you mind if I give a quick speech before we begin?" I ask. He merely shakes his head. I nod and turn around, facing the students who are staring at me. "To each and every one of you, I commend you for your determination. For 4 years, you have endlessly struggled to prove yourselves worthy of fighting for your people. For your Empire. You have another 3 weeks of training before you are ready to take on the galaxy and everything it has to offer. But for all those who seek to be a Maven, you must be ready for what's to come. To be a true Maven, you need to have the wisdom to lead others in combat when traditional tactics fail and when the time comes, I expect nothing else than for you to hold nothing back. If you fail to do so…you will die violently. Am I understood?"

"Yes, my Emperor!" Everyone responds in perfect sync.

"Good." Herpo says, now facing his students with his amber eyes gleaming with an inner light. "All those who seek to be Mavens, you have 10 minutes to get suited up and head to Firebase Hogsmead. Your final trials will take place today." One hundred of the students salute in respect (and possible fear) and use the Force to sprint out of the great hall to their dorms. "My Emperor. If you would follow me." Herpo then makes his way out of the Great Hall, with me following close behind.

Together, we walk out of the castle and reach a squad of soldiers. They salute us and escort us to the bunker in the center of the Firebase. Once the 2 of us get seated in 2 chairs that are surrounded by TV screens for monitors on each candidate and what they do. I watch as all the screens show the people walking towards the base, some chatting with each other on what's about to happen, or just talking with each other. Soon, all the screens show that the candidates are right outside the bunker getting into a perfect square formation.

"Shall I do the honors?" I ask Herpo, to which he just nods. I grab the microphone on the oak table in front of us and after pushing a button on the base of the microphone, speak into it. "Now that you are all here, your final 3 trials shall begin. For your first trial, all of the soldiers here on this base will attack you, and they will hold nothing back. Your task will be to set your weapons to low power and knock out all of the soldiers. I want to see what you can do. You may begin."

Upon those last words, Herpo pushes a button on the bottom of the desk. The siren goes off and all of the 300 soldiers stationed here stand up from behind their cover in the barracks and march out of the buildings and fire plasma shots.

"Let the games begin." I say, then use the Force to pull 2 Coke cans to us, and offer one to Herpo. He wrinkles his nose at the drink, so I just shrug before popping open the can and sipping on it, watching as the Force sensitives scramble into action.

Most of them run off to engage the soldiers on the ground single-handedly while others get up into groups and prepare to fight. "Get those doors open!" Murphy shouts to a dark-skinned, black-haired boy with the build of a linebacker. He nods and uses his strength to rip the doors off their hinges before he and the rest of the Big 5 run up the building, using their uniquely modified plasma rifles or plasma revolvers to knock out the soldiers in the buildings. Soon, they reach the top of the 3-story watchtower and look down on the rest of the battle. Thanks to their training, none of their allies were hit but they aren't doing as good. "Cecilia, Daniel, get into position and take out the soldiers on the top floors. I will assist you. Karel, Dragonsfist, Charlie, jump to the ground and help our comrades take out the soldiers on the ground."

I raise an eyebrow as the battle progresses. The 3 do what they were told and while Charlie and Dragonsfist use their strength to battle the soldiers on the ground, Karel runs into one of the other buildings, his blue hair flowing behind him as he uses his momentum to smash into the building and take care of the rest of the troops. He runs up the staircases, pushing soldiers out the windows and firing his revolver at the troops at the top. The armor resists the 1st shots, but the 2nd one affects them, knocking them out.

Overall, everyone did surprisingly well. But most of them forgot one thing that would make them be truly feared by the enemy, seen as demons from the deepest pits of death. As all the future Mavens look down at the heaps of unconscious soldiers, I stand up and walk to the door to the bunker, leading back to the open world. "You have done well for mere recruits. You have completed the first task, but you have forgotten one thing that would have made the task be completed faster. I am aware that it might be against your nature, but you all must learn to work together as well as separately."

Some of the students look at each other, uncertainty on their faces. Herpo follows me out and looks at the assembled crowd. "Now that you have finished your first task, it's time for you to take part in your 2nd task. This time, you will experience…visions. Endure them for half an hour and you will move on. If you pull out prematurely, however, you will ensure that you die painfully for your weakness."

That gets them rolling into action, getting into their meditative positions that they learned about at the Sith academies. After they close their eyes, Herpo grips his staff and taps it on the ground, his eyes glowing. The students' eyes flutter behind their eyelids, and the Force starts being filled with a sense of dread. Unfortunately, the Force isn't allowing me to see what their visions are exactly, so I resort to just feeling their emotions. As I spend the next half hour feeling their emotions, I can't help but raise an eyebrow at Karel. The others have some fear in them of what they see, but whatever Karel is experiencing, it is causing him immense fear and making him sweat considerably.

Just as the time hits 30 minutes, Karel lurches forward, eyes wide with shock but quickly recovers. The rest of the recruits also wake up and some look more rattled than others but also shake it off. "Very good. I admit that you are doing better than I was expecting. But now comes your final trial. March to the Black Lake double time!" I shout the last sentence, the Dark Side fluctuating a little.

Everyone is startled but immediately gets up and starts sprinting double time across the grassy fields. Smirking, I use the Force to teleport Herpo and myself to the Black Lake's edge and watch as the recruits make it to the edge. "Now…for your last task. As you may know or have heard, there are numerous creatures living in the murky waters of this lake. For your task, you must swim to the bottom of the lake and retrieve one of 2 barque models, then return to the surface. Kill anything that gets in your way or die trying. A special reward will be given to the 2 who retrieve the models and return to the surface."

Several people murmur with each other, until Herpo strikes the ground violently with his staff, a gesture that commands silence. "Also, there is a time limit. If you fail to return to the surface in a half hours' time, I will ensure that you suffer dearly in the dungeons."

As if on que, I hear a loud scream come from the castle. The recruits stand at attention, then start running to the water after I let out a shrill whistle. Some of the recruits push others off their feet, but they quickly get up and dive into the water. I can sense them using the Dark Side to form an air bubble around their heads so they can breathe for extended amounts of time.

I stare down at the water's surface, feel the recruits killing the Gryndilows that live in the water and fighting one another while others make their way to the bottom. I can feel their signatures as they reach the bottom of the lake, where the merpeople's village lies in wait. I sense the merpeople come out of their holes and start attacking the invaders. I sense them fighting back with everything they have, using their plasma weapons to attack the merpeople, killing a few of them before grabbing the barques sitting on stands in the middle of the village. The 2 then begin swimming to the surface, with everyone else following close behind in an attempt to claim my reward.

As the battle rages on, with steam rising on the surface of the lake due to the heat of the battle, the 2 victors continue rising higher and higher before they break the surface. I can't help but feel unsurprised to notice that they are Murphy and Karel, holding up the models in triumph. One by one, the rest of the recruits also break the water, having bleeding scratches all over their faces and suits from the battle that raged down under the surface. Karel and Murphy haul themselves to the shore, supporting each other as they stand back up. They freeze in place when they hear me clapping at them. "Congratulations, all of you. You have shown me that you are ready to serve my Empire well. Karel, Murphy, you won the last task, so you will be rewarded. Herpo will give you your Maven designation, your experimental suit of armor, but something else as a bonus. Today, a meeting with all the highest-ranking officials in our glorious Empire will be held, and you get front row seats. Herpo, give them their codenames and armor while I get us a Nubian. They will be my escorts to New York."

"Yes, my Emperor. Follow me to the Great Hall." With those words, Herpo walks up the hill to Hogwarts with all the Mavens marching behind him. Some of them look ashamed of themselves for losing while a handful look livid at being shown up, especially another goblin in the group.

While they march onward, I push a hidden button on the device attached to my face, and from my left eye, I watch as Supreme Admiral Vizsla in his grey admiral uniform with 3 gold stars on his right side appears in front of me. "My Emperor. What is it that you need?" He asks, bowing in respect.

"Supreme Admiral. Our special project supplied by Director Drakon is complete. I need you to send me a Nubian so I can get to New York for the meeting."

"It shall be done." The transmission cuts out immediately.

I stand by the Black Lake and watch for several minutes as another black Nubian flies into view before setting down at one of the landing pads. The soldiers who have starting recovering from the attack they went through surround it, watching it warily. This was how the Mafia had attacked once, and if the soldiers hadn't been alert and wary, the governor of North America would be dead.

I hear marching behind me and I turn around to see Herpo walking up with 2 men in different suits of armor. The man on the left has moss green armor that has a thick futuristic-looking chestplate*, spikes on the sides of each shoulder, padding across his legs and his helmet is shaped like an English medieval knight's helmet.

The other man, however, has light gold armor. The chestplate is smooth like a knight's chestplate is, light plating on his legs and arms for maneuverability, and his helmet is shaped like a large church bell's, with a T-shaped slit on the front like on the old mandalorian's helmets. "My Emperor, may I introduce you to our newest Mavens. Agent New York." Herpo says, pointing to the green-armored man, "And Agent Pennsylvania." Herpo then points to the light gold-colored armor.

"Very good. Agents New York, Pennsylvania, follow me. Admiral Herpo, I would appreciate it if you stayed behind. You will remain on this planet to ensure the security of our people and oversee the training of our future Sith." I state flatly.

Herpo stares at me, and I stare back. After a second, he nods in understanding. "I understand. I shall be watching your meeting from my office." He then turns around and walks back to the castle. I turn around and continue walking to the open Nubian with the 2 best Mavens in tow. I can feel their signatures so I know that New York is Murphy and Pennsylvania is Karel. After we get onboard the ship, we get seated and the pilots start the ship up, rising into the air before flying away at breakneck speeds.

No one says a word as we all think about whatever and I grip my modified lightsaber in case something goes wrong. But it was for naught since the ship touches down on a landing pad and we all get out. Several soldiers salute me with respect, but I ignore them and we continue walking towards the giant grey-colored, dome-shaped building in the middle of the city: the Imperial Senate hall.

Several other members of the Imperial Army are holding masses of people at bay, with an occasional gold droid flying in front of me to get a picture, but I just ignore it all and make my way to the main entrance, where 2 more soldiers swing the doors inwards.

As we continue walking down the red-carpeted corridor, we arrive at the main hall. Dozens upon dozens of rows filled with representatives of each region of the Empire, Generals and Lieutenants of the 3 military branches, Admirals, the members of the Empire's official government as well as the goblin's monarchy government. "Ladies and gentlemen! May I present to you the man who saved our planet from self-destruction: Emperor Harrison Peverell!" A speaker says, noticing my presence in the chamber. He then bows and walks off the stage.

Everyone turns to face me and starts clapping wildly as I walk down the hall, walking past all the people who stare at me with respect or envy. My 2 escorts sit down at the front row, on Dap's left, and walk to the front stage, where a giant screen showing the Empire's symbol is emblazoned. "Now, you may be wondering why I have called you all here for this meeting. Well, let me put an end to the confusion. I believe that we are ready to go to war against the larger galaxy's main factions." Several people mutter with each other, but silence themselves when I raise a hand. "However, I have not heard everything about our stance on this. So, I will ask for a vote: Will we declare war on the galaxy?"

Pretty much every hand in the room shot into the air. "On a side note." Admiral Hermione Granger says, after the hands are lowered. "There are a handful of new recruits who could use some disciplinary training, but about 90% of the Army under my command is waiting for action."

"Excellent, Admiral. Now, we may be strong, we may have a military force that dwarfs the armies of the Republic and possibly the CIS, but if we get careless, we will be destroyed. Even though we have watched and observed their tactics for over a year and equipped our ships with weapons that prey on their weaknesses. In the event war would be declared, I have come up with a battle plan." I say, then wave my hand at the screen. The giant holographic projector activates, creating a map of the larger galaxy and all the planets that are known. "Now, Admiral Granger, starting at 0900 hours our time, take half of the Imperial Army under your command and have them secure the Esfandia system and have the other half conquer the Bakura system. Once you have set up a presence on both systems, immediately begin setting up a communication center so that we may know of any enemy ships that come into our territory, after which you will standby for further instructions. Admiral Griphook, when Admiral Granger has finished establishing a foothold on her systems, start raiding the nearby hyperspace lanes of any transports. That will weaken both our enemies enough for you to begin conquest of the Outer Rim. But I forbid you from making our presence known yet." The goblin Admiral nods in understanding. "Supreme Admiral, once the Bakura and Esfandia systems are conquered, I will join you and your fleet when we take Dantooine and reveal our presence. Once the battle is fought, I will give the rest of you your instructions. Are there any questions?" Only 2 hands raise into the air. "Yes, Admiral Moen?"

The old Scandinavian Navy Admiral with a long white beard that isn't nearly as long as Dumbledore's, lowers his wrinkled hand. "My Emperor, I couldn't help but notice that you haven't mentioned anything about Kamino or Geonosis. Why aren't we launching surprise attacks on those planets from the start and crippling any chances of them replenishing their forces?"

I stare at the admiral with a cold look before holding up my hand and black Force lightning crackles in my hand in frustration from his borderline insubordination. But the lightning quickly dies out as I mull his words over for a few seconds. "I understand your concerns, Admiral. But as you said, those are the failsafe planets where the Republic and CIS can gather more troops when they do battle with us. Because of their value, they will be much more heavily defended than other worlds. If we attack now, I do believe that we might lose the battles and our secrecy will be blown. That is why you will take your Navy forces and be on standby until our presence is known across the galaxy. Thanks to our vastly upgraded and superior Beamspace drives, our enemies will be scrambling over themselves to find us. That will force them to thin their ranks enough for your targets to be easier to acquire. Understood?"

"Yes, my Emperor." The Navy Admiral responds, leaning back in his seat and remaining silent.

I then point to the other person who raised his hand, Air Force Lieutenant Wilson. A much younger boy with windswept yet short black hair and glazed hazel-green eyes that makes him look like he is drunk. When first I saw that when I attended the ceremony that got him promoted to Lieutenant, I thought he was drunk and demanded that he take a blood test after the ceremony, but to my surprise, the test came back negative. I can't help but find those results odd, given his rather eccentric behavior for an officer and his hyper activeness that makes him rather unpredictable. "Emperor, I was thinking. What if we run into high-ranking officials? I'm thinking of that walking hunk of junk General Grevious, Count Dooku; or Jedi such as Anakin Skywalker and Obi-Wan Kenobi?"

"…Depends on who you're facing. Those 4 you gave an example of, don't even bother trying to engage them. They have experience in actual combat and would tear you apart at a moment's notice. I have no doubt that Anakin can beat you at your own game. But, you all have my permission to engage Jedi Knights, clone commanders and even CIS generals. The Jedi Masters and Banite Sith, however, leave them to me and the Sith Order to take care of. Any other questions?"

No one raises their hands or dares to speak a word. "Excellent. So now, let it be known that on this day, July 5th, 2000, the true Sith Empire shall rise and the Republic along with the Separatists shall fall! Their destruction is the will of the Force… and we are its instrument."

Everyone cheers loudly for me, even going out of their way to chant the Empire's motto, 'Victory or Death! Victory or Death!' I look at Dap and she is giving me an encouraging smile. I can't help the small smile from forming on my face; for the first time in perhaps ever, I feel actual hope for my desire to rule the known galaxy to succeed.

* * *

 **July 6** **th**

 **3:00 pm Gaia Time**

 **On the Bridge of the** _ **Black Phoenix**_

 **Orbiting Mars**

* * *

I stare at the mass of activity; deck officers, human and goblin, are running around to get to their stations, strap down the fighter ships and the Empire's newest war machine: a single Camel-class walker. It takes up almost half of the docking bay's base due to its size, but its armor plating and weaponry make the 4-legged beast more than worthwhile.

Director Drakon, who is now head of Imperial Intelligence Agency, personally reported to me that Admiral Granger had recently managed to conquer both the Bakura and Esfandia systems without difficulty and bases for a premature warning system for anyone entering the Unknown Regions without Imperial permission are in the process of being produced. Admiral Griphook has already raided 4 cargo ships in the local hyperspace lanes, seizing their supplies and materials for the Empire's benefit.

Within minutes, the _Black Phoenix_ will lead 25 Triremes and Drakkars, all equipped within the last few years with primary cannons that shoot concentrated tungsten shells with a built-in EMP device inside them that upon activation would kill the control ships for the CIS's precious droid armies**. The Triremes, modeled like the ancient Greek warships, are about 5,000 feet long and 500 feet tall, painted completely black with the exception of the eyes on the front, 3 red stripes under the eyes and the bridge is located at the tall curve on the back of the ship. The Drakkars, based off of the Viking's ships, are somewhere around 10,000 feet long and painted dark brown to stand out from the 6 black and red shields on each side to aid the deflector shields, and the bridge is in the center of the top deck; the orange Chinese dragon figure-head not only gives a stylish touch, but also functions as the ships' EMP Cannon. All this power, all this military will soon be put to the test. Imperial Intelligence has also reported recently that the CIS and Republic are currently fighting over control on Dantooine, and the most notable detail is that a handful of Jedi, namely Obi-Wan, my former friends in the Order Anakin and Leia, along with both of their own padawans who are rumored to be very young, and my former master are participating in the ground battle on the planet. In their moment of weakness, they will be the first to taste destruction. "My Emperor! The entire fleet is ready and awaiting your command."

Everyone swivels in their chairs and look at me expectantly. I nod. "You have my permission. Begin the journey to Dantooine."

"Alright, everyone, you heard the Emperor. Set our fusion thrusters to 50% and activate the Beamspace drives. Lieutenant McCloud, get on the comm lines and send my orders to the rest of the fleet." Vizsla orders, now facing the deck officers.

"Sir, yes, sir!" They chorus, then explode into action, speaking into microphones at their stations to coordinate with the rest of the ship's passengers' orders and Lieutenant McCloud gets on the comms table in the middle of the hallway just outside the bridge. I stand in the middle of the chaos with the Supreme Admiral and Agent Pennsylvania at my side. One of the newest protocols set in motion requires at least one trained fully-trained member of the Sith Order accompany an Admiral and his fleet as a precaution in case Jedi or the Banite Sith make an unexpected appearance. The _Black Phoenix_ lurches forward, soaring through space at a decent pace, with the rest of the small fleet following close behind. All at once, the ships starting flying towards open space with the thrusters burning lightly and a swirling light blue portal appears in front of us like a gaping mouth, swallowing the ship whole.

It's time for the Clone Wars to truly begin.

* * *

 _AN:_ Well, that was an interesting filler chapter.

I'm sorry if the trial montage was very bland, but honestly, I really didn't have too much inspiration for that. Before you ask, yes, Karel in this story is the same yet different Karel from a friend of mine's best work, 'Jedi Hunter: Defender of Remnant.' Check it out; it's actually pretty interesting. If you want a much more detailed and action-packed trial montage, you will find it in a collaberation story my friend is writing. It is called 'Heart of Death: Karel's Story.'

*For the chestplate, think of Master Chief's chestplate from Halo 4.

**In the Phantom Menace, all it took to shut down an entire droid army was to cut their connection to the droid control ship. In that movie's case, the ship was blown up. Honestly, I don't see why knocking the power out would not have a similar, if not exact, effect.

Guest: I was thinking that I would give the description next chapter, but it makes more sense to describe them here.

Anyway, see you all next time when the Battle on Dantooine breaks out, and the Sith Empire reveals itself after years of isolation. I feel better about the upcoming chapters.

Later, all.


	18. Chapter 18: The Battle of Dantooine

**July 6** **th**

 **2000**

 **3:05 pm Gaia Time**

 **On the Bridge of the** _ **Black Phoenix**_

 **Approximately 200,000 klicks from Dantooine**

* * *

 **Harrison Peverell's POV:**

* * *

I am still standing on the bridge of the _Black Phoenix_ as the capitol ship pulls out of Beamspace thousands of klicks from the target world. My fleet will need time to prepare themselves and formulate a coordinated attack plan before we throw ourselves into the first battle.

All around my ship, the 25 Triremes and Drakkars also emerge from Beamspace and hastily form a staggered line. Before the fleet is the lush, green planet of Dantooine, its 2 moons orbiting the planet. Even from this distance, the battle is rather hard to miss.

A collection of 5 Republic Venators and Acclamators are engaging 10 Munificent-class frigates all surrounding a Lucrehulk-class droid control ship. I extend my senses through the Force, and come to a revelation: none of the Jedi are participating in the space battle; instead, they are leading thousands of inbreds planetside to engage Dooku and his army of clankers. Some time ago, several members of the Imperial Army had too much time on their hands so they got together and made up those rather condescending nicknames for the Republic and CIS troops. If it doesn't impede their training, then I really don't care what they do.

I can't fight a smirk from forming on my lips; Dooku had left his deadly assassin, Asajj Ventress, for dead a mere month ago. That will make dealing with him so much easier. There is no point in me participating in the space battle, since the Jedi and Banite Sith are on the planet. "My Emperor. We need to come up with a battle plan." Vizsla says, walking towards me and interrupting my train of thought.

I look around and notice as people are staring at me for orders. "Alright. This battle will go smoothly and by the numbers. Have all ships activate their cloaking generators then set thrusters to 75% and direct them towards CIS battle formation. Prep an Arrow for me. I am going planetside and taking care of the Force-sensitives and the clones down there personally. Make sure that Tiel has safe entry to the planet's surface. Supreme Admiral, charge up the EMP Cannons and when I send the signal on my comms device, concentrate the 1st salvo onto that clanker's control ship. After that ship is destroyed, I relinquish control of the space battle to you so you can do what you see as necessary."

Vizsla nods and gets on a comms line to prepare the Arrow for departure and as I go to the docking bay, Agent Pennsylvania walks up to me. "What am I going to do?" He asks.

"You are going to wait for the Supreme Admiral's command, then you are also going to board one of several Arrows that are going to the surface. Kill any clones at the bases you find or civilians who spot you. We need your faction to be as secret as possible."

Pennsylvania nods and continues standing at the bridge, watching as the fleet cloaks itself from view and approaches the raging battle and the control ship that just hangs in the middle of space like a dud.

I walk through the tunnels in the ship, soldiers running around to man the battle stations until I reach the docking bay. The single Camel stands in the middle of the bay, the desert-colored tank casting a long shadow over the dozens of stationary fighters and transports.

As I stroll towards a squad of soldiers boarding an Arrow, I notice the squad's Sergeant walking towards me, then saluting me. "My Emperor. The pilot has just told me we are ready to go. All we need now is to wait until we are within range of the planet."

"Very good, Sergeant. Let us get on board our transport so we can take of at a moment's notice." I respond. The man nods and we walk onto the transport. The Sergeant takes a seat at the 1st seat on the left of the left-hand side as his soldiers are checking their weapons one last time and I grab the hand railing on the top of the seats; a precaution installed in case more than 20 people need to be deployed. "May the Force be with us." The ramps seal up and emergency locks are initiated.

About a minute of silence, I feel the transport lift off from the docking bay and fly out into open space with little to no turbulence. With this moment of calm before the big storm, I pull up the black hood with a dark blue stripe on it up over my face. It shadows my face completely and get out my thick rectangular-shaped silver lightsaber with red insides and a black rim on the top. I modified it so now I can not only utilize the heavier attacks I prefer, but I also added a special feature that plays off of the scythe I used during the TriWizard Tournament.

Suddenly, my reflexes grip the handles tighter than before when the transport starts experiencing turbulence as it enters the planet's atmosphere. The lights then go out and the red emergency lights turn on. Time for the battle to begin.

* * *

 **3:00 pm Gaia Time**

 **Ancient Grove**

 **Dantooine**

* * *

 **3** **rd** **Person POV:**

* * *

Obi-Wan Kenobi is not having a good week at all.

A few days ago, he had managed to recover Anakin after a prisoner exchange that resulted from a skirmish that took place on Naboo. Now, the planet is forced to increase its security in case the Separatists try anything again.

The Jedi, after months of constant battle, decided that he needed a small break. So, he went back to the Republic-friendly planet of Dantooine to relax as new ships and troops are stationed and necessary repairs are made before they are thrown back into battle.

Obi-Wan wasn't the only who decided that a break would be beneficial. His former padawan, Anakin Skywalker, and his own padawan, Ahsoka Tano, are on temporary leave. Along with 2 others. Leia Haggar had very recently become a Jedi Knight and one of the best close-range fighters Obi-Wan has seen in the Order, and her radical attitude makes her the perfect master for her padawan. When he first saw the boy known as Sander Blanco, he first thought that he was a youngling who was sent to deliver a message. But once he had heard otherwise, word had started spreading about him and the clones are already calling him the 'Young One' since he is 6 years old; the youngest padawan in the Order's history. He was the whole reason Leia had taken time off; so she could begin his training to be a Jedi and to repair her strained friendship with Anakin. Ever since their old friend, Harrison Peverell, had declared his true loyalty and fled the Jedi Temple after dealing considerable damage and casualties to Corusant, disappearing from the galaxy altogether with the entirety of Death Watch following close behind, Anakin and Leia's friendship had become estranged.

Now, the thought of mending old wounds is no more. Several hours ago, a small battalion of CIS warships pulled out of hyperspace and sent enough dropships to land thousands of battle droids across the planet with the intention of removing the Republic's presence from the world. The most interesting aspect, however, is that Count Dooku himself is leading the assault while General Grevious is continuing battle in another part of the Outer Rim.

Obi-Wan lunges forward, slashing a B2 battle droid in half that is trying to smash a clone's face in then uses the Force to push the scraps of metal into another droid. Anakin gets into a fighting stance, slashing apart the 3 B1 Battle droids who are surrounding him while Leia and Ahsoka are jumping around, slashing battle droids left and right while the clones start firing from behind their cover in the bunkers built into the sides of the nearby hills. Sander, due to his age and inexperience, is helping coordinate clone formations at the makeshift command center on the other side of the hills. Anakin feels a ripple in the Force, and raises his lightsaber, just in time to deflect Dooku's lightsaber as the Dark Jedi leaps out from the ranks of battle droids. "Impressive. You have become much more skilled since last we fought. But it is in vain." They break their stalemate and start dueling again.

Once Obi-Wan slashes in half the battle droid closes to him, he leaps into the air and tries to attack Dooku, but he anticipates the attack and holds his lightsaber horizontally to block the attack. "Why are you here of all systems to invade, Dooku? Are you trying to regain some lost territory?" Obi-Wan asks. He mainly asked the second question to annoy Dooku, since the CIS has been losing ground considerable ground for the last month, despite the Republic suffering some setbacks.

"Master Kenobi. I suppose I should tell you since you will not live for much longer. I have heard rumors to Rakatan artifacts are still intact and numerous. Once the CIS reverse-engineers them, the Republic and the Order you hold dear will fall."

Obi-Wan's eyes widen at hearing that. He too had heard rumors that a handful of smugglers did manage to uncover the entrance to an underground temple where several energy shield generators and the most basic hyperdrives that were dated back to the days the Rakata's Infinity Empire ruled were found. The Republic seized all the artifacts and are keeping them in lock-down, of course, but if the CIS got them… "I won't let that happen."

"Oh, but it will, my good friend." Dooku says. The 2 disengage and begin dueling with all their skill.

Leia holds off the surging droid army all she can while Anakin jumps out of the main carnage and activates onto the comms device on his wrist, using it to contact Captain Rex. "Rex, pull all troops out of cover and have them attack the droids."

"Very well, General. Let us send these clankers back to the scrap heap." Rex responds, then his small form breaks up and nothing but static comes from his device.

"Rex? Rex!" Anakin says, tapping the line frantically. It wasn't like Rex to cut out all of a sudden, which means that their communication systems are being jammed. Then, he freezes in place.

The Dark Side of the Force is practically dancing with power, churning in waves around him. Anakin whirls around rapidly to Dooku, thinking he's the source. To his confusion, Dooku raised his hand for his troops to stop firing and is also looking around confused. Obi-Wan, Ahsoka and Leia are doing the same thing, while uneasiness is radiating from the clones. The Dark Side's activity is so strong that even those who are not extra sensitive to the Force can feel that something isn't right. "Look. What is that?" A clone asks, pointing to the sky.

They all look to the sky, where something is falling towards them at break-neck speeds before crashing into the ground. When the dust settles, every one notices a tall figure cloaked in dark blue robes of a make the Jedi have never seen before stand up. He is holding both hands together and the way he is holding his head down doesn't give away any abnormal features about the new guy. When Anakin reaches out through the Force to see who the hooded figure is, nearly flinches away. The Dark Side radiates from him like he has never felt from anyone else; not from Count Dooku or even from Darth Maul, the Sith Lord Anakin first met when he was a child on his home planet of Tatooine.

"Who are you?" Dooku demands, pointing his humming red lightsaber at the figure's shadowed face. For once, the clones and battle droids are united on 1 goal; pointing their blasters at the man, with the Jedi doing the same with their lightsabers.

The man chuckles darkly, a sound that makes the clones grip their blasters tighter. "Look how old you've become, Dooku. You really are losing your touch if you can't remember the one who pushed you to become who you are right now." The man says with a sinister voice that creeps Obi-Wan out, but sounds strangely familiar.

The clones look at each other, confused. But Leia, Anakin and Dooku nearly take a step back, absolute shock written on their faces. "Master? What's wrong?" Ahsoka asks, concerned as to why the reckless hero she has almost always seen in him is now looking like he was slapped across the face.

Dooku clears his throat and speaks up. "Harrison Peverell. So, you return to the galaxy at last." Although there is a noticeable tremor in his voice.

"Wait. Harrison Peverell, as in the fallen Jedi who attacked the Temple years ago?" Ahsoka asks, now also looking caught off-guard. She had heard several stories involving the young boy who was Dooku's padawan, including the time when he promised the entire Jedi Order that he would reform the Sith Empire and fellow padawan Callista, among seven other Jedi, were killed in the terrorist attack on Corusant. So, to see the boy who had already become forbidden to mention in the Order standing before gives her a sense of eagerness to fight him and confusion as to why he chose today to reveal himself.

Harrison chuckles again, amused. "You hit the nail on the head, Ahsoka Tano. Even though I have watched the galaxy as it tore itself in two, my years of isolation has been most beneficial to my training. For now, I am no longer the Sith Acolyte you all once knew; I am now Darth Kadabra, the true leader of the Sith." With those last words, he disconnects his hands and throws his hood back.

For the second time today, Obi-Wan is shocked, but this time, he is more horrified by how much he has changed during his years as a Sith. His skin is considerably paler than he last saw him, his black hair is slicked back and one of his eyes is missing, replaced by a sheet of metal that covers the right side of his face and a symbol is engraved into a thicker piece of metal where his eye would be. "My powers are so much stronger than the day I left your precious Jedi Order. And I pride myself on being a man of my word." He adds, then uses one of his hands to touch his eye and rub it like he's thinking. "The Sith Empire has returned, and we have only one goal in mind. Your destruction is the will of the Force, and we are its instrument."

As if on que, sudden explosions go off in the sky. Everyone looks to the sky to see what's wrong, but because the sun is still up, no one can see the space battle. Then, all across the battle field, the humming of machines deactivating can be heard and every single B1, B2 and Spider droid on the planet deactivates and crumples to the ground, dead. "What the kriff?" A clone mutters, staring at the deactivated droids incredulously.

The sounds of whirring engines can be heard and everyone looks to the sky again. Half a dozen ships with long silver tips and long grey bodies start descending from the sky before breaking off and most of them flying in different directions with only 2 of them staying the original course before they both level out and set down on the ground. Not a second later, hatches on the bottom half of the tip open up and soldiers in strange black armor with masks shaped like birds' faces and yellow goggles over their eyes start running out, getting into formation and fire a volley of shots from their rifles. Thick blue bursts of energy, electricity crackling in the middle, fly out towards the dozens of clones. The shots that are clean misses hit the ground, tearing it up considerably, while the shots that do hit their mark make parts of the body explode. After the first barrage, 5 clones are dead, gaping holes in their chests or heads missing while one clone is rolling on the ground, whimpering in pain as he grips the stump that was once his right arm. "Squad, tortoise formation and attack!" A woman shouts in the black armor with a red plume on her helmet. Her squad complies and pull out long grey tubes at their belts. Upon activation, they form glowing green energy shields.

"Great. An Empire led by Sith and use tactics that effectively utilize energy shields. This is exactly what I wanted to do for a break." Obi-Wan mutters as he lifts his lightsaber to block a plasma shot that is traveling towards him. He grunts lightly as he is pushed back considerably and the lightsaber absorbs the energy blast. He looks up and is about to jump in-between his men and the 2 squads of black-armored troops but Kadabra steps in front of him.

"If it's a fight you want, it's a fight you will get." Anakin says, activating his blue lightsaber. Ahsoka and Leia get on Anakin's right, and they activate their twin green lightsabers and long green lightsaber. Kenobi sighs, suspecting that running at a Sith lord, no matter how numerous they are, is a bad idea. But he activates his own lightsaber anyways, noticing Dooku standing off to the side and getting ready for battle.

"You are more arrogant than the last time I saw you, Anakin. Let me show you the extent of how much I learned in my absence." He then lifts up his left hand, revealing the brown leathery arm with horn-like protrusions on either side and long fingernails that look like they could cut metal. Obi-Wan makes a mental note to stay out of arms reach. From out of the robes emerges a long rectangular lightsaber. It has a button on the side and what looks like a thumb scanner on the long side. Kadabra puts his thumb on the scanner and to everyone's surprise again, thick concave-shaped sheets of metal begin extending from one of the halves of the lightsaber, rising until it's about 3 feet long and then starts bending down, forming a semicircular path before stopping. He pushes a button on the side and the red beam of the lightsaber travels up the metal, traveling down the curve and stopping at the tip. Kadabra swings it around, pointing it at Obi-Wan. "Say hello to the Light Scythe. And with it, I will fuck your shit up in so many ways."

With that, he lets out a battle cry and lunges at Anakin, slashing around violently while whirling his body in different directions to carry the momentum. The power behind each slash is so strong that Anakin starts taking steps back so as to not get injured by the large weapon. Ahsoka lunges at Kadabra to try and help her master, but he swings around and catches both her blades with his scythe held horizontally. Kadabra takes advantage of the stalemate and kicks Ahsoka in the stomach, sending her flying towards the clones who are getting decimated by the black-armored troops who haven't lost a single soldier due to the energy shields deflecting the blaster shots.

The rest of the Force-sensitives charge towards Kadabra, but he holds up his deformed hand and a ball of black energy forms in the hand. The Dark Side pulses around him much stronger than before and he grips the ball before punching the ground. Black smoke erupts all around him. The Jedi are lucky enough to throw up Force shields in time to block the torrent of Dark Side energy, but the clones are less fortunate. The Imperial troops had seen what was happening and had already started running from the black cloud that had consumed the clones. They start screaming in pain before they collapse to the ground. The cloud dissipated and the Force shields dropped, giving everyone a clear view of the heaps of dead clones lying on the ground and the troops who have stopped running and are staring at the carnage before them. In a matter of minutes, both the droid armies and clone armies had been decimated.

Kadabra then whirls around and faces his troops. "There is a command center on the other side of the hill. Destroy it and kill everyone there!"

They nod and begin marching at a brisk pace up the hill, maintaining formation. While Kenobi is no coward, he knows when he has lost a battle and right now, evacuating as many people as possible and returning to Corusant so the Republic can be alerted about these new enemies takes top priority. Dooku charges at Harrison, lifting his arms and throwing Sith lightning at him. But Kadabra lifts his deformed hand and grabs the lightning, concentrating it until the lightning turns black as night. He then points it at Anakin and Ahsoka who are getting up and releases it upon them. They fall back to the ground, pain written all over their faces. Dooku watches all of this, before deciding to let the Empire have victory today and running to the CIS base in the distance where his personal transport is waiting. Kadabra lifts his Light Scythe up, intending to end Anakin and Ahsoka but Obi-Wan leaps into the air, spinning as he does so, and lands in front of the 2 wounded Jedi before holding out his lightsaber with both hands. Even then, he barely manages to hold up the much-larger weapon. He uses his physical strength to the point where he can take one hand off his lightsaber and give a Force push. Kadabra, caught off-guard, is thrown into the air and flies several hundred yards, past the ancient ruins where Jedi on this planet used to meditate at thousands of years ago.

Not wanting to stick around and get killed by the young Sith, Obi-Wan lifts Anakin, with help from a less-injured Ahsoka, and they run up the hill after Leia, who is also frantically running up the hill. When they reach the top of the hill, they stop in place and watch the battle before them.

The clones are hiding in makeshift covers, like metal crates, under the tall communication tower in the middle of the field, surrounded by 3 AT-TEs, each pointing in a different direction. Four dozen soldiers in black armor, despite losing some of their numbers, are holding their ground on the left side of the battlefield, standing directly in front of their open transports and shooting barrage after barrage of plasma blasts at the clone lines, killing them quickly. The AT-TE main cannons are proving effective enough to hold the troops back, occasionally killing 1 or 2 of them. "We need to get out of here." Leia whispers, watching the battle with an unnaturally pale face. The 4 Jedi sprint as fast as they can down the hill towards the Republic base. Whenever possible, Anakin would use the Force to push the Imperial troops' plasma blasts aside until they reach the base. Captain Rex runs up to them. "General Skywalker, are you alright?"

"Not really. But I'll make it." He says, pushing off Obi-Wan's attempt to support him and stands up. "What's the status?"

"Not good, General. We lost communication with all the other stations across the planet. We have no choice but to assume that they have all been killed by them." Rex responds, gesturing to the Imperial troops. "Honestly, we were lucky enough to get enough of our communications online to talk with the Admiral. With the way things are going, I believe that a tactical retreat is our best move. We're holding to hold off these troops as long as we can."

"Where's Sander?" Leia asks, looking around frantically.

"General, your padawan is helping coordinate the defenses." They all look behind the captain and see the young boy in traditional Jedi robes standing next to a clone as they are talking. Obi-Wan can't help but suck in a breath as he sees the young pale face, framed by light sandy blonde hair and dark blue eyes with flecks of gold in them. Such a boy does not belong out here on a battlefield.

The sounds of battle start raging louder than before, as the troops continue to fire at the clones from behind their covers. The clone who is talking to Sander runs up to Rex's side. "Captain, we have managed to secure a line with the Admiral."

Rex nods and he, followed closely by the Jedi, make it to the base of the communication tower, where a communications table is set up. Admiral Yularen is standing in the image, looking frantic for once. He is trying to say something, but he keeps cutting in and out, his voice garbled to the point where only a few words can be made out. "…Overwhelmed…reinforcements…evac…abandoned village…2 minutes."

"Well, isn't that ominous." Sander states sarcastically. But everyone ignores the comment, thinking of the village in the distance that the civilians evacuated from when Windu helped secure the planet from CIS hands.

"Trooper, hold a line here while the rest of the troops make it to the LZ. We are leaving." Ahsoka says to some nearby clones. They nod in understanding and a handful of troops continue firing on the black-armored soldiers as they stand their ground or dodge to the sides to avoid blasts from an AT-TE tank while most begin running for the village in the distance at brisk speeds.

"Captain, get to the transport. We will hold the line here." Obi-Wan says, reactivating his lightsaber.

"But…" Rex starts to protest, but sees the determined look on Obi-Wan's face. "Very well. May the Force be with you." With that, he joins the rest of the clones heading to the LZ while a dozen clones either hold a thin line of fire or pilot the AT-TEs and use its main cannon. Most of the Imperial's soldier's attention is focused on the clones while 1 soldier took notice of the escaping clones and fires a shot at the back of one, making his chest explode and fall to the ground, dead.

Anakin growls and is about to join the fray when he stops. The Dark Side bursts with energy like before but unlike Kadabra, this presence is larger and feels more destructive. A long shadow covers the battlefield and the remaining Jedi and clones stop firing so they can look to the sky to see something that chills the blood in their veins. A 30 feet tall war machine, designed so differently than any droid they have ever seen and gleaming silver in the sunlight, is floating above the battlefield.

The Imperial troops, who have also stopped firing their weapons, start cheering for the machine. It lifts up one of its arms and a long silver hook emerges from of the sheath, also gleaming dangerously in the light. "This is the end, you fools." A deep voice says from Tiel and the hook arm lifts up before slashing downward, slashing the communications tower in half and making the dish half collapse onto an AT-TE, crushing the tank and killing the driver instantly. As if Tiel wasn't enough, an explosion goes off and Kadabra lands on his feet in front of the troops.

"Not bad. But you can't escape me so easily." He says, re-activating his lightsaber that is a normal lightsaber now.

"Why are you doing this?" Leia asks.

"To show you that the Republic will not survive the fire that is coming to consume it." He responds, then uses the Force to pull the closest clone trooper to him before knocking him to the ground and poising his lightsaber over the trooper's head. "And today, I shall light that spark."

Before he can stab the clone in the face, Leia uses the Force to launch herself forward and uses her lightsaber to block the strike. He growls in frustration and sends a Force push to her, making her fly back. Kadabra then thrusts his lightsaber down, killing the clone instantly. Tiel lifts his other arm, which morphs into a cannon and points it at an AT-TE. The Dark Side pulses around the cannon as it glows white and a beam of energy strikes the tank. The engines on the AT-TE go critical immediately and blows up, throwing the wreckage into the air and knocking the Jedi and clones down to the ground.

When Kenobi looks up from the explosion, he horrified by what he sees. The clones and Imperial soldiers are firing at each other again and Sander is walking up to Kadabra, pulling out his lightsaber as he walks up. The Sith lord laughs at the sight before him. "You are certainly brave for someone your age. What is your name?"

"My name is Sander Blanco. You will pay for everything you've done today." Sander says, a chilling calm tone in his voice. He activates his blue lightsaber and charges at Kadabra. He is caught off-guard by the sudden aggressiveness but deflects the barrage of slashes Sander sends at him. The Young One is decent with a lightsaber, but far out of his league. Kadabra holds out his deformed hand and Sander freezes in place. The Emperor smirks and throws his lightsaber with the intent of cutting the young boy in half.

But the young padawan manages to use the Force to break the hold on him and tries to dodge to the right, but he wasn't fast enough. The slash caught half of Sander's left arm, leaving a deep gash on his left arm. He hisses in pain and falls to the ground, cradling his arm in pain. "No!" Leia shouts, getting up and trying to run to him. But she jumps back to avoid getting slashed down the middle by Tiel's curved blade. She growls and looks up at the machine's emotionless red face.

She is about to engage Tiel when Anakin places a hand on her shoulder. "Help your padawan. We will take care of this thing." Leia nods in gratitude and runs to the Sith lord who is now getting down onto 1 knee to examine her padawan.

"Any last words?" He asks, a smirk forming on his face.

Sander starts muttering something under his breath and Leia is only able to make out the last sentence. "…Infinite in distance and unbound by death, I release my soul, and by my shoulder, protect thee."

She stares at him incredulously. Where did that come from? Kadabra also looks immensely confused by the statement but then lifts up his lightsaber and slashes down with the intent of cutting Sander's head off. But to both of their surprise, a dark gold light surrounds him and instead of his head coming off, the red lightsaber hits the light and bounces away, throwing Kadabra off-balance. "What is this Force technique?" He growls out while staring at the dark gold light around the boy. He starts groaning in pain and the air around him starts getting hotter. Kadabra's eyes widen in shock and he pulls up a black Force shield.

As the air gets hotter, Leia does the same. Not a second later, Sander lets out a battle cry and roaring red flames shoot out of his body in all directions. The fire rises into the air, forming the shape of a 20 feet tall wolf with long, sharp spikes on its back, sharp fangs and glowing eyes. The red fire then charges towards the Imperial troops and engulfs them completely, making them scream in agony as their armor starts melting under the intense heat and seeping onto their skin. Sander continues rolling on the ground before falling unconscious. The fire beast dissipates almost instantly, leaving an entire squad of troops completely barbequed. Out of the corner of her eye, Leia could have sworn she saw someone in gold armor but when she looks in that direction, no one is standing there.

The sounds of humming machines can be heard and everyone looks to the sky once more and see half a dozen LAATs descending from the sky, 2 of them setting down at the settlement that was evacuated when the invasion began and picking up the rest of the clones while the other 4 set down on the ground, the clones jumping out and firing at Kadabra while the Jedi haul themselves to the gunships that have formed a diamond formation. He deflects the blaster shots away from him in different directions before using the Force to shoot a ball of black energy at the clone in the front. He screams in pain before falling to his knees and eventually falling onto his back, steam curling from his corpse. All 5 Jedi, even the unconscious Sander, climb onto the gunship on the right with the clones' assistance.

"Pilot! Get us out of here." Anakin shouts to the pilot on the front.

"Yes General." The pilot shouts back and the gunship starts lifting up into the sky with the rest of the ships. As they start lifting up to the sky, however, one of the LAATs is sliced in half by Tiel, who is soaring into the air to intercept the Republic and prevent them from escaping.

"By the Force. What is that?" A clone shouts in shock as another one slams the blast doors shut.

"I don't know." Ahoska says, then looks down at the wounded young Jedi, with his lightsaber lying at his side and Leia looking down at him like she's never seen him before. Anakin stands up and walks to the front of the ship. "Master, where are you going?"

"Snips, I have a plan to get us out of here. I want you to make sure that everyone here is safe from any other surprises." Anakin responds then opens the hatch and gets into the seat to man the laser-beam turret on the left side of the ship. After looking at the controls before him, he grips the wheel before steering it towards the gleaming silver Tiel who is flying towards them. Anakin pulls the trigger and a beam of green energy flies out and hits Tiel in the face. To Anakin's horror, the beam doesn't melt its face. But the machine does cover his face with the gun hand, causing it to lose track of where it's flying and smashes into an LAAT that is getting too close to it, making it explode in a ball of fire. Tiel flies out the other side, then points his gun arm at the LAAT Anakin is riding on, with a glowing white light forming in the barrel. Hoping to the Force, Anakin fires his laser beam at the blaster arm. The charging shot and the laser collide, causing another explosion that engulfs Tiel. Anakin stares at the battle, watching the explosion carefully. Then, he hears a metallic roar, vibrating the glass around Anakin's turret, and when the fire dies out, Tiel emerges with an enraged look on its red face. The blaster arm is smoking and blackened from the damage. Soon, Tiel stops flying up and only stares back at Anakin as the LAAT pulls out of Dantooine's atmosphere, becoming a smaller and smaller dot. The Jedi sits back and lets out a sigh before something catches his attention. His jaw falls open as he watches strange-looking ships with shields on either side that look like they can eclipse a Venator position themselves above the planet and drop cylinders onto the planet, resulting in miniature blue lights breaking out across the surface. Anakin closes his eyes as the feeling of death radiates from Dantooine.

Whoever this new enemy is, they are ready for war against the Republic and CIS and managed to defeat them both. The LAAT, along with the remaining 3, fly into the docking bay of a Venator as it vents out turbolasers against the warships, only for the shots to be absorbed by the deflector shields. The gunships set down in the docking bay, which seals up and the single Venator, along with the last Acclamator that survived the skirmish with the Empire, enter hyperspace.

Anakin lets out another sigh and climbs out the turret and walks out the gunship, where Sander is being treated by several medical droids. While he may have difficulty with the Jedi Council, telling them about this new threat is of the highest importance.

As Leia watches Anakin while he walks out of the docking bay with Obi-Wan at his side and Ahsoka talking with Rex to catch up on what exactly happened during the battle, Leia returns her attention to Sander who has already been hauled off to the medical bay for some bacta treatment. She walks through the corridors, listening into the conversations of clones and the fear of the black-armored troops that is starting to spread among the troops. They need a true victory if any morale is to be maintained by these strange forces. Led by her old friend…

Soon, she reaches the medical bay as the medical droids finish up their work and return to their previous stations. Sander is lying on his back with thick bandages wrapped around his left arm. His eyes flutter open and he lets out a long groan. "Welcome back." She says, sitting next to her padawan.

"What happened?" He asks, looking at her in the face.

"You saved my life when you used your powers on our new adversaries." She responds, sitting down near him.

"My powers? That's an oddly specific way of putting it, mentor." He responds. She chuckles at the last part; he refuses to call anyone master, something that deeply annoys some of the traditional Jedi Masters who meet him. But it's that rebellious spirit and calm air about him that first caught her attention and in time, when he passed his trials much earlier than any other padawan in the Order, she decided to follow her instincts and makes him her padawan.

"I phrased it like that because what you did was not the Force. It was something else altogether. I heard you say something before your power went loose. Where did you hear it?"

"I…I don't remember. I hear this woman saying something to me and I felt like I needed to repeat it. After that, I only remember the feeling of intense heat. I'm sorry, but I need to sleep." With that, he falls onto his back and falls asleep again.

Leia contemplates these words before realizing something about herself. After today, she wants to try a cigarra and find out more about who Sander's parents are.

She owes it to him to find out what exactly he inherited and train him how to use it properly. If not…something tells her that it will end in disaster.

* * *

 **3:30 pm Gaia Time**

 **Venator crash site**

 **Dantooine**

* * *

 **Harrison Peverell's POV:**

* * *

I am standing in the middle of the barren field, the corpses of a handful of my own soldiers but mostly clone soldiers littering the ground and in the distance, a Republic Venator had bucked under the power of 2 Triremes and their 3 dozen plasma cannons on each side and crashed into the planet, destroying a small Republic outpost.

Eventually, the skirmishes became tiresome so I ordered Vizsla to pull all troops out of the potential blast radius and drop Greek fire bombs onto the remaining pockets of Republic troops. All those who remained on the planet were killed painfully by the explosions. Only those who were in space and the evacuated troops and Jedi survived the battle. Now Tiel's blaster arm is damaged and probably a week of repairs is required before he can return to the battlefield.

Around 50 troops died in the first contact with the Republic. The CIS was crippled and butchered like cows in a slaughterhouse, with only Dooku escaping on his personal transport. The Republic had lost thousands of clones, ships and AT-TEs. Overall, the Battle of Dantooine was a major victory. However, as I watch the Imperial troops walk through the flames and check for corpses, I mind wanders back to the 6-year-old padawan of my old friend, Leia Haggar.

Sander Blanco…he is yet another enigma. For a boy his age, he knew how to fight surprisingly well and then there was that fire that killed more of my men at once than any clone soldiers, even the ARCs, ever did in the skirmish. Whatever it was, something felt different about it; an inner darkness was in that fire, waiting to be unlocked and unleashed. I know that the boy was not going to be much of a threat to his Empire alone, but underestimating any opponent would cost me dearly in the long run.

Suddenly, I hear someone walking up to him and turns around. Agent Pennsylvania is standing there, a squad of the Imperial Army behind him. "My Emperor. We have managed to secure the planet and establishment of a military base is already underway."

"Excellent work, Agent. You are dismissed." I say and watch as the soldiers salute me and march in the opposite direction. But Agent Pennsylvania continues standing there, looking at me. "Is there something you would like to ask, Agent?" I ask, getting a little suspicious by these strange actions.

"My Emperor. I would like to ask you a favor relating to the war."

"Oh really. What might that be?" I ask, now really curious and suspicious.

"…With your permission, I would like to be the one who fights Anakin Skywalker. Alone. I have seen his arrogance in the Imperial Network and I would like to be the one who puts him down." Pennsylvania says, his tone becoming noticeably colder.

I stare at him, weighing the options. I wonder why he would be interested in Skywalker alone, but if he thinks he can beat him, I will not get in his way. "If you feel that way. You have my permission, Agent."

He nods and runs off, probably to help the Imperial troops set up a comms line so they can communicate with the fleet and set up a military base and potentially make it a fortress world for the Empire.

I turn around and continue staring at the fallen Republic and smile wickedly. Everything is going according to plan. The only enigmas are Sander and Karel. As much as I want to trust him for what he did for Dap, I can't help but get the feeling there is more to him than meets the eye.

* * *

 _AN:_ First battle is done.

Kadabra had reunited with old friends and they lost pretty heavily to him. You might be thinking the CIS went down too easily, but honestly, their forces ran on droids that needed a central server. In the Phantom Menace, just one control station was destroyed and entire armies were deactivated.

To clear up any confusion, Sander had heard his mother say the magic words to unlock aura when he was younger so upon the Force's will, he remembered it and unlocked his own aura and semblance.

Anyway, see you all next time when the Jedi Council and CIS get wind of the Sith Empire among other elements.


	19. Chapter 19: The Incident on Corellia

**July 6** **th**

 **2000**

 **6:30 pm Gaia Time**

 **Supreme Chancellor's Office**

 **Corusant**

* * *

 **3** **rd** **Person POV:**

* * *

All of the members of the Jedi High Council that could be pulled off the battlefield without any repercussions are assembled in the Supreme Chancellor's office. They don't know what is going on exactly, but the urgency of the message the Chancellor sent upon Jedi Master Obi-Wan Kenobi's request and the report that the Republic has lost the important Outer Rim planet of Dantooine concerned them greatly.

"Thank you all for coming to this emergency meeting." Palpatine says, sitting behind his desk as usual. He is staring at the Jedi Council before him, along with 5 other guests: Kenobi, Anakin, Ahsoka, Leia, and Sander. The latter has bandages wrapped around his left arm and a grim look on his face as he looks down at the ground. "Now, Master Kenobi, can you enlighten us as to what happened on Dantooine?"

Kenobi lets out an exhausted sigh, dark bags under his eyes. "Of course, Chancellor. Count Dooku personally led a massive droid army to try and capture the planet. He wanted to reverse-engineer the Rakatan artifacts recently discovered by smugglers so the CIS could create a weapon that would win them the war." Kenobi says, staring at the Chancellor.

The Jedi Council look at each other, immense surprise on their faces. "Did they succeed in securing any of these Rakatan artifacts?" Palpatine asks, suspecting more to this story.

"Not to our knowledge, Chancellor." Anakin replies, stepping forward. He also has a tired look on his face. "We were on the verge of crushing Dooku and his droid army when a new faction joined the fight. They were led by the Jedi who was once Dooku's padawan, Harrison Peverell."

The Council has varying degrees of shock on their faces upon hearing the news, and even Aayla gasps in shock. They had all spent many years and lots of their resources to search for the former padawan and Death Watch, only for every lead they come across to lead to a dead end. In the few months before the Clone Wars started, some rumors had reached their ears about them hiding in Wild Space, leading to the discovery of star systems like Teth, while other rumors said that they were hiding in plain sight on Corusant, waiting for the right moment to show themselves. Yoda sighs, closing his eyes to try and connect to the Force. "Clouded, my vision is. Succeed in becoming a Sith lord, did he?"

"Yes, Master Yoda. He proclaimed himself a Sith lord by the name of Darth Kadabra and he has changed so much over the years, I honestly find it hard to believe that he is the same boy I was friends with." Leia adds, "He led dozens of soldiers in black armor that is thick enough to resist blaster shots to the chest. They were well-trained, well-equipped, and each squad of 20 soldiers knew how to work as a team to the point where our traditional tactics failed. Really, it was a blessing from the Force that any of us escaped the massacre."

Palpatine stands up and walks to the window, staring at the skyline of Corusant with a thoughtful expression. Under the layers of acting, Darth Sidious is now wondering if this new organization would ruin his ultimate plot to rule the galaxy. "So, the Sith Empire has returned. Dantooine was a key rallying world for the Republic in its operations in the Outer Rim. Given the number of clones that would be stationed there, I find it disturbing that these forces had defeated the Republic and CIS as easily as you described it."

"It's complicated, Chancellor." Obi-Wan says. "I believe that this Empire have been watching us for some time. They launched some sort of ion blasts at the Separatist fleet, crippling their ground forces instantly. Dooku, too, escaped the fight. For most of the clones on the planet…Darth Kadabra tried to kill us personally while several of his ships dropped some sort of bombs onto the planet's surface. The fires destroyed all the Republic bases and killed any clones who weren't evacuated."

The Jedi look at each other, more disturbed than ever by the capabilities of the reborn Sith Empire. "You said earlier that this Darth Kadabra has changed since we last saw him. Please, can you describe to us how exactly he has changed?" Windu asks, maintaining a calm face and tone despite everything he has heard.

Leia looks down at the ground, a pained look on her face. "He has lost an eye, he is far stronger than he ever was in the order and his power through the Force could be felt by the clones."

Palpatine looks back, a surprised look on his face. "A dark day for the Republic, this is." Yoda says, then lets out a sad sigh.

"I agree, Master Jedi. I suggest that you figure out a way to deal with this Empire and I will alert the Senate about these matters." Palpatine says, bowing to the Jedi in respect.

The Jedi stand up, also bowing in respect before they walk out of the red-carpeted office. All of them have faces ranging from shock to worry to grim resignation. They all know that with this new foe's arrival, the Clone Wars are only going to get worse.

* * *

 **August 10th**

 **2000**

 **11:30 am Gaia Time**

 **Galactic Republic Acclamator-class Cruiser**

 **Corellia**

* * *

Obi-Wan Kenobi ducks behind the corner of the grey corridor as several plasma shots go off where he was moments before, then activates his lightsaber for when he charges out and attacks the troops.

For the last month, since it was revealed to both the Republic and Confederacy that the Sith Empire has returned to try and take the galaxy for itself, the Republic and CIS has done everything in their power to have their forces to try and bring the war to the Empire, which has become known as the Heart of Death due to their genocidal deeds.

As the reputation of the Empire has grown, their brutal efficiency in combat has become one of their most infamous attributes. Numerous star systems in the Outer Rim, including Lothal and Garel, have already been conquered and integrated into the Imperial war machine. However, all the Outer Rim systems that are under the rule of the Hutts have yet to be touched. The Republic had the 501st Legion and the 333rd Legion, which has seen a steady rise in fame due to their successful guerrilla tactics, chase down the Heart of Death and defeat them wherever they find them. But they have also been chased back by the Empire's fleets on several occasions. Most contacts with the Heart of Death have either been skirmishes or outright losses. The Republic has been trying everything just to gain a victory against this titanic threat. Among the many rumors, they are also becoming notorious for how much punishment their ships, especially their heavy warships, can take and they have a nasty habit of dropping fire bombs on bases or other areas with a heavy military presence. Not even cities that are known to harbor rebel cells are spared. These bombs are so powerful that every location within a 10-mile radius of where the bombs are dropped becomes nothing more than a barren crater with the scorched surface shining in the sunlight like fine glass, which can be noticed even from orbit.

Thus far, the CIS is either at a stalemate with the rest of the Grand Army of the Republic or starting to lose ground to the Empire. Count Dooku has ordered Wat Tambor's Techno Union to work overtime to find a way to upgrade the droid control ships so that they can resist the EMP shots and their armies would not be simultaneously deactivated if the control ship loses power. The results…have rumored to be less than hopeful.

But the most alarming part of the Empire's tactics is that whenever they aren't fighting in war, they are doing nothing. Those moments of silence always set the Jedi Council on edge, since they have no idea which system will be the next victim. Recently, the Corellian government has been dealing with a newly formed rebel faction, calling themselves the Corellian Militia. Their main goal is to make the Corellian government make the entire system neutral in the war, most likely so they won't have to fight the Empire. Putting the rebellion down, and the Force's desire to bring attention to the planet, prompted the Jedi Council to send 2 Acclamators from the 501st and 333rd. What alarmed the Council is that when they tried to sense anything on the planet, they discovered a darkness that is much subtler than anything they have felt from either the Heart of Death, the Confederacy or Sidious's plots.

When the 2 Republic ships arrived at Corellia to settle these disturbances, we were being watched by a black ship the size of an Acclamator and shaped like a beetle. Without the Republic knowing about it at the time, the scout ship sent 4 Arrows to the Acclamators and had them use their sharp points to ram into the docking bays of the ships. The Imperial troops had unloaded from the ship and no matter what the clones do, the Imperials have been gaining ground on the ship.

Right now, Kenobi is trying to hold the troops off from taking the bridge of this cruiser with a dozen clones at his side. "General, we can't hold these guys off much longer." Captain Rex says, sticking out from behind cover and firing his blaster pistols before ducking back behind cover as the Imperials fire back.

"Captain, try this. Those Imperials won't see this coming." A clone says, handing his captain a thermal detonator. Rex nods and activates the thermal detonator, throwing it out from behind the cover. Kenobi runs out from behind cover, activating his lightsaber along the way. The troops are pulling themselves back together after trying to dodge the detonator's explosion, leaving the right opening.

"Kill that fucker!" One of the soldiers shouts and raises his plasma rifle to try and fire, but Kenobi lunges forward, stabbing the soldier in the goggle eye. Their armor has also started gaining a reputation of itself, having the ability to resist blaster fire for a considerable amount of time. He then starts slashing in all directions, cutting apart the Imperial troops as they recover. Within seconds, only the sergeant is standing. He lets out a battle cry, unsheathing a combat knife and charges at Obi-Wan. But he uses the Force, pushing the soldier against the right wall and slashes at his stomach. He gurgles in pain before dropping to the ground, dead.

Kenobi look down at the carnage before him and his gaze softens to a sad look. He takes several deep breaths, trying to calm himself down, while the clones run out and point their rifles in all directions for any other threats. "General Kenobi, I just lost contact with Commander Cody. We need to get off this cruiser."

"Agreed, Captain." Kenobi responds, starting to run down the long grey corridors lined with the dead clone troopers. The dozen with Kenobi and Rex picked up the energy shields of the Imperial troops, looking at them intently as they make it to the docking bay. Two of the blast doors are penetrated, revealing the Arrows sticking out on the left side. Around the rest of the bay, however, are LAATs primed and ready to go. Most of the pilots are lying on the ground, gaping holes in their bodies or missing heads, but Kenobi then runs over to one of the pilots lying behind a full crate. Kenobi kneels down to get a better look at the pilot's face, then touches the man's forehead. The pilot suddenly groans before sitting up. "Pilot, are you alright?"

The pilot looks at Kenobi for several long moments before letting out a long groan. "Yeah. I'll be alright. Those Imperials caught us off-guard."

"Good. We need to get off this cruiser as fast as we can." Rex says, looking around occasionally for any potential ambushes. The side door opens up and Anakin Skywalker, along with Ahsoka and 2 dozen deck officers run out, firing behind them with blaster pistols.

"Anakin!" Obi-Wan shouts, standing back up.

"Masters, we need to leave. The Empire is tearing through our men." Ahsoka says, looking slightly sickened by something.

"…How are a dozen men causing so much carnage?" Obi-Wan mutters as all the survivors board the gunships and the pilots start the ship's engines.

"They have assistance from some soldier in white armor. Whoever he is, the Dark Side is strong with that savage. He is hunting us all." Anakin says, his tone becoming colder. After several agonizing seconds, the gunship's engines are fully activated and ready to go. As Ahsoka is about to use the Force to close the blast doors when she freezes. Out of the entrance she had come from, a dozen black-armored Imperial soldiers march out with green energy shields and plasma rifles unsheathed. In front of them is a soldier in white armor, with a chestplate shaped like the soldier's chestplates, thick plating on his legs and a round helmet that covers his entire head and a flat sheet of metal covering the face that is pointed at the bottom. The soldier then grabs the giant ring on his back and pushes the button on the rod in the center. Red lights appear all along the rim of the metal ring and in a split second, he throws it. Anakin runs forward and slashes upward. The 2 weapons collide and the power behind Anakin's slash makes the ring spin in the air for a few seconds before returning to the white-armored man's hand as he runs at them.

Ahsoka shoves the blast door shut as the gunship lifts off the ground and flies out of the just-opened docking bay entrance. The gunships then soar point-blank to the planet's surface, the ship starting to turn orange from entering the planet's atmosphere. The two gunships start shaking again as they enter the atmosphere and starts making their way towards the forested surface. The LAAT the deck officers boarded shoots forward to the surface, reaching safety. Obi-Wan reaches out through the Force, searching for the reasons they came to this planet. However, what he does sense makes his eyes fly open, wide with surprise. "Pilot!" He shouts, running to the front of the ship. "Those Imperials are chasing us down."

The pilot looks down at the panel on his right and nods. "Yes, General. I can't shake them. Hang on; this could get bumpy." Kenobi walks to where he was, gripping the railing along with clones, Anakin and Ahsoka. The gunship swerves back and forth, trying to shake off the Arrow that is chasing them. The only design flaw with the transports is that they are not equipped with plasma cannons like the rest of the fighters are.

The transports continue flying down to the surface, burning up in the atmosphere before the Imperial ship decides to end the chase. Pushing its reactors to their limits, the transport lurches forward and charges at the LAAT. The pilot, not expecting this maneuver, evades to the right as fast as he can. But it's not fast enough, for the left wing is deeply grazed. "Pilot, aim us towards that transport and fire 2 rockets at will!" Anakin shouts to the pilot.

"Yes, General." The pilot shouts back and adjusts the gunship's position to where it is facing the back of the ship before pushing several buttons next to his controls. Two rockets fly out of the 2 pods on the gunship, their trajectory at the 3 thrusters on the back. The first rocket strikes the middle thruster, creating a large chain reaction that makes the ship jerk upward while the second hits the top thruster. The second reaction creates an even bigger explosion, blowing up the entire back half of the transport and making what remains of the front fall to the ground in a nose-dive.

"We…we managed to do it." Ahsoka says in astonishment, sensing the destruction of the Imperial transport, before the gunship suddenly bucks to the right, making a clone gasp slightly in surprise before gripping his handle harder.

"Everyone, we just lost our port wing. Hang on; this landing is about to get rough." The pilot shouts, pulling the controls as far to the left as possible to try and keep them level. Below them, the forest is getting closer and closer before they smash into it.

The impact jolts everyone forward, losing their balance and falling to the ground. "Is everyone alright?" Obi-Wan asks as he clamors back to his feet.

"I've been better, master." Anakin responds sarcastically, before hoisting himself to his feet and using the Force to open the door. The light shines into the gunship and the clones, followed closely by the Jedi and pilot, clamor out of the downed LAAT. The forest all around them is tall, lush and green. On their left, the Nomad Mountain range spreads out for miles in either direction.

The sounds of muffled engines prompt the fletching group to duck for cover behind the trees and watch the sky. Two Arrows fly down from the atmosphere and fly hundreds of feet over the tops of the mountain range. "You know, you guys are doing a fine job blending in with trees." A young male voice says, jolting the crew to point their blasters or activated lightsabers at the voice.

They then lower their weapons when they see Sander and a dozen camouflage-armored soldiers slightly swatting and holding long blaster rifles in hand. The 333rd Legion used to be led by Jedi Knight Ramses Kelli-an, but he was killed when the Empire attacked the Felucia system, bombing part of the planet where the Republic had established a base and sending out fighters and bombers to try and clear out any Republic survivors. It was only because of their excruciating training that the 333rd troops managed to escape with their lives; even Commander Zep, one of the survivors, admitted later that the strategies of the woman who led the assault, Admiral Granger, were most impressive. After that grim battle, the Chancellor had promoted Leia Haggar to be CO of the entire Legion with Zep as her backup officer and Sander remaining by her side as her padawan.

"Very funny, Sander." Ahsoka says with frustration, pulling herself out from behind the tree along with the rest of the troops. "So, where's General Haggar?"

"Right here." She says, walking into the clearing with another dozen soldiers around her.

"What's your Legion's status, General?" Anakin asks.

"We didn't see the Empire coming so many of my men were killed. I managed to get most of my deck officers and troops on transports and off the cruiser. If we could find a way to throw the Empire off…" She is interrupted when one of the men under her command runs up to her.

"General Haggar. We found something that you need to see."

She looks at him with interest, then nods. "Sergeant, take me and half a dozen clones to this place you're talking about. Obi-Wan, you're with me. Generals Anakin, Ahsoka, please secure the gunships and the deck officers. They are our only hope of escaping this planet."

"Well then, we best be on our way. Rex, Cody, help them. Sander, have a scouting party watch out for any trouble. This shouldn't take long." Kenobi says, cracking a small smile before following the blonde Jedi and her troops. While they are not the 501st, Kenobi has to admit that Leia has been leading them well. The small group makes their way through the forest, while Sander and a dozen more troops fan out in different direction to watch the 3 LAATs. The scout party keeps walking through the forest for several minutes of silence, broken only by the sounds of the natural life, until they reach the edge of a large clearing.

"This is it." The sergeant says, standing off to the right of the main party.

"You think?" Leia asks lightly, her light purple eyes wide with horror and nearly covering her mouth in horror. The clearing before them is a massacre; weapons are lying around carelessly, small blood patches staining the grassy ground and the crates of weapons lying on their sides. In the center of the clearing, a YV-series light freighter is docked in the middle of the camp, standing tall and unscratched while the rest of the light freighters around it are lying on their sides, nothing more than scraps. However, there is one thing about the massacre that disturbs Kenobi more than anything else. "Where are the bodies? And why is there 1 freighter unscratched?" He asks, looking around for the corpses that should be lying everywhere.

"General." A clone says, walking through the clearing, past the drying splotches of blood and looking at it intently. "Judging by the weapons and freighters, this was where the rebels were making base. But these blood patches are strange. I've fought the Sith's forces long enough to know that their rifles don't leave splotches like these. They almost look like they were killed by wild animals."

"But what kind of animals could do this? All of the native species that could have done this live in habitats hundreds of klicks from this position." Leia says, before her voice trails off as she looks at the ground more intently, noticing that the blood trail leads into the forest before stopping completely, pointing towards the Nomad mountain range. "Whoever or whatever attacked these insurgents, took their corpses to the mountains."

"This is most peculiar indeed." Kenobi responds, looking at the hills are a long moment before they decide to follow the path laid out of the clearing and proceed towards the mountains, the sense of darkness the Jedi Council sensed getting only stronger as they continue.

Eventually, the clone sergeant who is leading the small pack holds up his left fist. Everyone freezes instantly, wondering what's going on. He then unclenches his hand and points forward to the base of the mountain directly in front of them. The crew fans out from behind slowly and cautiously then see what stopped the sergeant. A large black beast is dragging the corpse of a man into the shadows of a gaping cave about 10 feet tall. The last thing to vanish into the shadows are the creature's glowing red eyes.

"What was that?" Kenobi mutters, starting to look worried. Whatever that was, it isn't native to Corellia and darkness radiates from the cave. Only when he was on the mysterious realm of Mortis and met the Dark Side user named Son did he feel such darkness. If they don't destroy this darkness, the Empire will use it and then the Republic will be in trouble. Deciding to pull out his lightsaber, the male Jedi takes the lead of the crew and walks up the mountain before entering the cave. The cave walls are rough, rocks sticking out from the walls, and it stretches downward to the point where he can't see the bottom. He activates his blue lightsaber and starts descending into the cave. The clones turn on the light that is installed on the right side of their helmets while Leia activates her own lightsaber, which gives off a dark purple light.

As they continue walking deeper into the cave, Kenobi notices something drawn on the right wall. He stops dead in his tracks and stares at it intently. On the wall is the image of a featureless man surrounded by tall monstrous beasts in black. They remind him of the beast that carried the corpse and judging by the ink, this painting is rather new. "Leia, have you seen anything like this before?" He asks, not wanting to take his eyes off the wall.

Leia leans in and takes a closer look. She was born on Corellia and had spent many missions here with her master, learning the planet's cultures and customs to quell attacks from space pirates and tensions on the planet. "…I have never seen anything like this in all the galaxy."

"Well, then let's find out what's down here. This place gives me the creeps." The sergeant says, muttering the last part under his breath.

The group continues walking down the cave, looking at the other paintings on the wall with great interest. The second painting is a drawing of 3 men fighting with swords and shields against the beasts, swarming around the humans. The third image is the same three men holding up what looks like a large crystal. It reminds Obi-Wan and Leia of a kyber crystal but don't think that's what it is since the crystal is being shared by the men and it is shaped differently than any kyber crystal they have seen. The fourth image is of the men fighting back against the swarming wolf-like monsters, but with guns and what looks like lightning arching from their hands. The fifth and final painting is of the men working together to build a kingdom with a tower standing tall, the monsters smaller and farther away. "It looks like pieces of a brief history for some city. One that has a direct connection to those monsters that killed the Corellian Militia." Leia states, always taking time to look intently at the pictures to see what they show.

Despite the peculiarity of the situation, the clones manage to stay silent and hold a tight formation as they continue marching down, the sunlight starting to get distant. "Generals, there's something at the bottom." The sergeant says, turning off his lights. Sure enough, the cave floor levels out and they can see flickering lights.

The Jedi continue leading the group down until they reach the bottom of the cave after 3 minutes of walking. The air is noticeably cooler in here and what they see is one of the most unexpected scenes they have seen all day. The beast they saw at the cave's entrance is nowhere to be found, but a thick stretch of rock surrounded by 2 large pools of what looks suspiciously like blood. In the center of the circular chamber is a small circular island ringed with flickering candles. But the most interesting part of the cave is that they are not alone. A human woman wearing long black robes is on her knees, back turned to them and the smoothest, whitest hair Kenobi has ever seen, even after meeting Count Dooku, that falls down to her waist. Kenobi and Leia point their lightsabers at the woman, sensing the concealed darkness radiating from her. The clones point their blasters at the person, seeing the alarm in their leaders. "I have been expecting you." She says with a calm voice that sends shivers down their spines. Although Leia can't help but remember Sander when he gets really frustrated. In those situations when he was looking for something in the library or the Jedi Masters berate him for holding differing views, he maintains in a calm manner that somehow sets her on edge. The Jedi Masters who have been on the receiving end of that attitude are now constantly wary of the young boy and his actions.

"Really? How would you have known we were coming?" Kenobi asks, getting into a fighting position while also walking forward so the clones can walk onto the platform.

"Because I could sense your souls, Jedi Kenobi. Right now, you are being escorted by half a dozen soldiers bred for war and another Jedi." The woman responds, not looking at them.

Kenobi looks immensely confused by what she said, but manages a straight face. "Where are the Corellian Militia?" He asks, looking at the pools with a sense of dread forming in his stomach.

"My pets snuffed them out. I admit; mankind is a formidable foe. They can find unity and hope in even the most hopeless situations. But I intend to take that hope away from them. Your precious Jedi Order will fall in due time." The woman answers, raising her head slightly.

Leia and Obi-Wan look at each other, confused. "You…want to wipe out the Jedi Order? What have we ever done to you? We have kept order in the galaxy." Leia states, wondering if this woman is with Kadabra and his Heart of Death. Although as soon as she says the last sentence, she wonders if it really is true.

"You really don't know, do you?" The woman asks, her voice getting angrier before she stands up and turns around. The Republic warriors nearly flinch at her appearance. The robes she is wearing completely cover her slim frame, stretching down to her bare feet. All of her bare skin is unnaturally pale, making the blood vessels on her arms and face stand out. Her black scleras and red eyes glowing with rage seem to burrow into the Jedi's very souls. "They took the things that mattered to me the most. You let one of the few men that I care about die and one of your knights took my own child from me. As payment for your actions, I shall enjoy listening to you scream before I leave this miserable life behind." She responds then snaps her fingers.

The pool starts rippling slightly before the wolf-like monster lunges out of the pool. One of the clones is tackled to the ground and the monster starts eating the organs of the clone before the other clones fire their blasters at the creature. The bone-like armor resists the blaster shots at first but some shots hit the black underbelly and the wolf lets out a whine before collapsing to the ground and dissolving into black smoke. They return their attention to the woman and blink as blood red runes with an eye in the center encase both her hands. "I'm afraid you are going to have to do better than that if you want to leave." She snaps her fingers again and the blood veins on her arms start glowing slightly. A glowing light appears under the surface of the strange liquid and dozens of ripples appear on the surface before monsters appear and let out shrill roars, these ones having 4 hindlimbs and no eyes on the bone helmet which has red tribal markings running all over it. The clones try and fight off the monsters, with the Jedi getting ready to join the fray when the Force blares to them faintly in warning. They dodge in different directions, just barely missing the woman bearing down on them with red runes of a different look in her hands. The darkness in this cave is so stifling the Jedi's connection to the Force is weaker than usual, so the 2 of them can only keep up with her swinging around like an acrobat, her runes deflecting the lightsabers with ease.

Leia stabs forward, the tip colliding with the rune, then she pulls to her left then uses her opponent's momentum to try and stab the woman in the chest. But she is much quicker, ducking under the stab that misses cleanly. The rune comes around, hitting Leia in the chest and knocking her off her feet. The woman walks over and knees down, the right rune forming into a glowing red dagger. "Who…are you?" Leia gets out, wanting to know who she is.

"Since you are about to die, I can tell you. My name is Salem." She says, smiling coldly. Salem…Leia recognized the name. That is the name of the woman who was suspected of fleeing Corusant years ago, leaving a path of destruction and death in her wake. And many of her features, like her face and build only remind Leia of her…padawan. After a split second, she realizes the truth about the situation, and guilt grips her heart, despite her not being the one who took him.

Before Salem can stab Leia, she is knocked off-balance by Obi-Wan who lifts Leia onto her feet. Together, they run past the monsters as more continue crawling out of the blood pools and start eating what is left of the clones they traveled with while slashing through the ones that are in their way. They start running up the crude staircase as fast as they can, using the Force to continue going faster until they reach the mouth of the cave. "Hang on." Leia says, then lifts her hands and concentrates on the Force. The rocks that make up the entrance start wobbling until they collapse, completely caving in the entrance. "That should slow her down. For once, I don't want to stay on this planet."

"Agreed. Sabotaging that freighter so she can't escape and getting everyone out of here alive is our best…" Kenobi is interrupted when they hear the sounds of a firefight going off. "What did Anakin get himself into now?" He asks before he sprints off to the landing area of the LAATs, having no choice but to ignore the bloodied field. A squad of Imperial troops are on the far side of the clearing in tortoise formation while some in their group fire plasma blasts. Sander and Ahsoka are doing his best to deflect the plasma shots while the clones are firing back, only for their shots to get absorbed by the green energy shields. Three clones are already lying on the ground, gaping holes in their chests.

The deck officers are all safely sheltered by the gunships and the pilots are all on standby. "Where's Anakin?" Obi-Wan asks as he deflects a plasma shot aimed at him, grunting slightly from the pressure of holding up against the brutal shot.

"Don't know. Some guy in gold armor who was with the troops challenged him to a duel. Now they are duking it out somewhere over there." Sander says, pointing to a spot in the distance.

"Generals. Thank the Force you got back. Where are the rest of the clones you went with?" Rex asks, ducking behind an LAAT to avoid getting his head blown off.

"They're all dead. We were ambushed by some monsters that also wiped out the Corellian Militia. We need to get going." Leia shouts over the noise frantically.

"I see. General, we were just waiting for you to get back. These guys had somehow found us and ambushed us before we could send a search party." Rex replies, then ducks out from behind his cover to fire once more, this time taking more time than what would be considered safe to focus on the trajectory of his shots. They both strike one of the soldiers in the formation in the face, making him scream in pain before falling backward. The troops close the gap that their comrade once filled and continue firing as the clones notice the newcomers then start boarding the open gunships. As they do this, they never let up on their shots, making the Imperials hide behind their energy shields, until they stop when most of the blast doors are shut and the gunships immediately take off to the atmosphere, including one that Obi-Wan boarded. The last gunship lifts off the ground as well, but this one flies forward, the wind knocking the troops off-balance and the ship soars over the forest until they reach the spot where Anakin and a gold-armored soldier are continuing their duel. Anakin had just used a Force push on the soldier, knocking him off-balance. Anakin looks up and notices the open gunship. Smirking, he uses the Force to jump into the gunship, after which the blast door is pulled shut by a clone and enters the atmosphere. Luckily, the silent group encounter no more resistance when they enter the pilot enters the emergency code, opening one of the spare docking bay doors on the 333rd's Acclamator.

Everyone gets off and watches as deck officers make their way to the bridge of the ship, with Rex following close behind to help keep them in line and clones preparing the turbolasers in case they are attacked again. "This whole trip was a waste." Anakin mutters bitterly, looking down at the ground.

"Master, what's wrong?" Ahsoka asks, looking at him with a confused look. Sander, as he gets off with Leia and the clones they were riding with, can't help but wrinkle his nose in disgust at hearing that. Ever since his mentor told him about the Hutts, he had considered it offensive to call one master. Makes him sound like a slave.

Anakin looks up to see her concerned face and he manages a smile. "Nothing, Snips. Whoever that soldier was I fought, he said some things to me that make me confused. I need to meditate to clear my head." With that, he walks off to the cabins so he can do that.

"I'm going to help Rex coordinate our trip back to Corusant." Leia says, also starting her walk to the bridge but looks back when she sees Sander not following. "What's wrong?"

The Young One looks up at her, a hardened look on his face that nearly makes her flinch. "Nothing. I…just need to take care of something real quick."

Leia looks at him with a calculating look before sighing. "Of course. Take as much time as you need." As she continues walking away from him, she can't help but glance back at her padawan once more. In that moment, she vowed to treat him not just as a student, but as family. She owes it to him since his mother is lost in a darkness that would rival even the aura of dread that she felt when she was around Kadabra. She would be back to Corellia soon to make sure that woman is contained so she won't create any more chaos in the galaxy.

Sander, however, doesn't notice this glance but is focused on walking towards Commander Cody, who is checking his blaster rifle intently. "Commander."

"General." Cody says with surprise in his voice, looking up and saluting. "Is there anything I can help you with?"

Sander looks at the clones who are still checking weapons then to Ahsoka who is talking with Kenobi about something before looking back. "Yes. I would like you to do me a favor."

Under his helmet, Cody can't help but raise an eyebrow. "Alright, General. What would you like help with?"

Sander lifts up his left arm and uses the Force to pull a blaster rifle into his hands. "I'm tired of being expected to follow traditions. Please, teach me how to use a blaster so I can save more lives."

* * *

 _AN:_ Yeah, this was more of a filler chapter than anything else. Just shows how much things can change in any given period of time.

Salem has returned, for now. I don't know what her fighting style will be in canon RWBY, but I do believe that it will revolve around magic of some kind. A staff, maybe?

Anyway, see you next time when the Empire decides to step the war up even further.

PS: Make sure to have a great 4th of July!


	20. Chapter 20: The Assault on Kamino

**August 20** **th**

 **2000**

 **10:30 am Gaia Time**

 **Imperial Senate Hall**

 **New York, North America**

 **Gaia**

* * *

 **Harrison Peverell's POV:**

* * *

"You have a lot of explain, Admiral." I grind out, anger pulsing through every inch of my body.

Right now, I should be beside myself with ecstasy. Almost two-thirds of the entire Outer Rim and many systems in Wild Space are already under by my Empire's occupation in the short time that we have joined the war. Despite all of the false propaganda and successful evacuations the Republic and CIS initiates, it is becoming painfully obvious that they are losing the war badly. In the Outer Rim, only Dooku's homeworld of Serenno and Geonosis remain as Separatist strongholds, Kamino and Mon Calamari are the Republic's havens while Hutt Space has yet to see my troops. I'm no fool; I already know that I can't take Hutt Space by force as long as the Grand Hutt Council still exists, so I am waiting for the right moment for when the Hutts are all gathered for one of their meetings, capture them all and make a spectacle of what comes next.

I should be happy right now, but lately, things have started getting complicated. It all started when I had ordered a Beetle to scout Corellia so I could have it attacked and begin crippling the Republic's ability to produce warships to move their troops, only for it to be discovered and attacked. The only survivor of the skirmish was Agent Pennsylvania, who I had sent along because the Force told me it was the right thing to do. What he told me when he got back was that some madwoman had killed the rest of my surviving forces. Since the planet is so deep in Republic space and the Republic is already aware of the Empire's presence there, it is futile to even try. Besides, judging by how said agent mentioned seeing a freighter fly into the air after his small battle, I can safely assume that whoever that woman was had already left the planet.

But what happened recently is the worst news I've heard in years. Just yesterday, the CIS had tried to capture the planet of Mon Calamari but were soundly defeated by the Republic. I had tasked Admiral Moen with weakening the Republic's presence while their defenses were still soft so I could try and capture the planet later. He did manage to destroy 5 Republic Acclamators floating on the surface of the planet, but he stayed too long on the battlefield and that lost him 2 Galleon-class warships in the process before he decided to make a tactical retreat. The Galleon is a 7,000 feet long warship modeled after the Spanish warships, but without masts or a steering wheel, have 2 smaller EMP cannons installed on the front of the ship and unlike the other ships in the Imperial military, these Navy ships have the capability to stay afloat on water for extended periods of time without any repercussions. It makes me furious because it now shows the Republic that we can lose; a hope that will only make them more difficult to defeat as the war rages on. So, I returned to Gaia so I can keep coordinating my armies properly but mainly to call this emergency meeting so I can figure out what to do with the reckless Admiral.

The old man is sitting in the front row seat directly in front of me, looking down in embarrassment while holding his hands together. The governors of the expanded Empire, the Imperial government and Dap are glowering at him as well. They had all heard the reports of the Admirals' failure as well. The Admiral looks up at me with a stone-cold expression on his face. "My Emperor, I do not wish to beg for mercy after making such a careless mistake. I attacked the planet without knowing that the Jedi scum Kit Fisto would be present and stayed in the battle longer than I should have."

"And as a result of your oversight, you have lost 2 ships under your command, which in turn has shown the galaxy that we are not the invincible armies that we led them to believe. I would be shocked if Jedi Fisto hasn't already told the Jedi Council and the Republic Senate about these events. It will encourage them to make bolder moves, potentially try and loosen our hold on the Outer Rim; we need to speed up our schedule. I suggest that we start moving into the Mid Rim and begin wiping out the clones and droid armies as they squabble over control of those planets. That will starve them of their newfound hope." I state, looking away from the Admiral and addressing the crowd after the first sentence.

"My Emperor? We can't take those systems yet. Our forces are starting to get spread thin, keeping our bases and every system under occupation in check and we can't risk sending any more Beetles. The Republic can be creative; they will eventually find a way to predict where we will send our scouts and destroy them." Drakon says, looking at me with a curious but calculating looks.

I chuckle darkly at his statement. He is right about the Beetles; but if his new endeavor succeeds, the Beetles will not be necessary as dual scout and stealth ships. "I am aware of that. Which is why we need something even more subtle for the job. So tell us, how is Project: Adaptor coming along?"

Drakon blushes a little but maintains his composure. "Not very well, my Emperor. My scientists managed to complete the prototype droid body you asked for but the organic outer tissue is proving itself to be a nuisance. No matter what they do, they can't get the skin texture and mass just right or found a way to mass-produce it. Dr. Luciano Spencer, my top scientist, is starting to give up hope of his scientists ever managing to get the process correct."

I nod in understanding. "Honesty, Director Drakon, any other response would have come as a surprise to me. I suppose that settles it. I want the Imperial Navy to send 6 Galleons to the Kamino system. They will attack Tipoca City on Kamino and secure as much cloning technology as they can. If possible, I also want any Kaminoan scientists captured so they can help us understand what we recover."

Everyone nods in understanding at what I said. Because of the constant losses that the Republic has been forced to endure, they have no choice but to pull the majority of its clone armies back to the Inner Rim and fortify their docking stations and any presence they have in the Mid Rim wherever they can. Kamino, while still under the protection of the 428th Legion* and their Jedi General, Shaak Ti, the system has had many of its defenses rerouted to other systems of significance to the Republic. They are vulnerable enough for a simple siege on one of their cities. My eye then falls onto the Admiral in front of me. It would take too long to go through protocol and punish him for his failure, so I have something far more efficient and time-saving in mind. "Admiral Moen, you are going to keep your rank and you will redeem yourself by leading the assault on the capitol of Kamino."

He looks up at me with a surprised expression, but his face hardens into the emotionless mask of an experienced military figure. "I will not fail you again, my Emperor."

"Good. Because if you do…you better hope that you die at the hands of the Jedi."

"I just have two questions: How am I going to transport the cloning technology and are you going to send a Sith to help me deal with Jedi Shaak Ti?"

I mull his requests over for several seconds, slightly impressed with his capacity to stay cold despite my berating. While he could leave behind some of the ground equipment to make space for crates to do the transporting, he does bring up a good point about Shaak. Normally, I would tell him that he is on his own and that he can handle himself; but Shaak Ti is a battle-hardened Jedi Master who is one of the few Jedi that follows the folly known as the Jedi code to the letter. I can't help but give a ghost of a smile as an idea comes to mind. Tiel may be going through sessions to upgrade his plasma cannon so it's much more formidable than ever, but I have heard that Darth Lancelot is getting rather bored with his stay on Dantooine to help route troops and the Sith Knights who have just joined the war across the galaxy, as well as training the pet I gave him when he came a Darth. It is the only monster that has ever bonded enough with a Sith and willingly cooperate with him. "Strip your ships of any equipment that is not mandatory for the mission and replace them with the largest crates you can store. For the Sith, you will only have Darth Lancelot accompany you. And a special present for the Republic."

* * *

 **2:30 pm Gaia Time**

 **Private Quarters**

 **Tipoca City**

 **Kamino**

* * *

 **3** **rd** **Person POV:**

* * *

Something isn't right.

Jedi Master Shaak Ti could sense it in every bone in her body. The Force has been losing its balance between the light and darkness ever since the Sith Empire and joined the war, taken most of the Outer Rim in mere months and is the source of the Jedi Council's increasing paranoia. Even after 2 of their warships were destroyed in a conflict around Mon Calamari.

Fortunately for her, the Empire has not set a foot on the planet that she and her legion are protecting. The CIS hasn't bothered trying to attack the system again after their failed mission months ago either so the task of guarding the planet while new clones are bred and trained for battle is starting to make the clones bored out of their minds. While the Jedi Master too would admit that the months of waiting around for something to happen is most tiresome, she has enough patience to not admit it and knows that without their presence, one of the most important planets to the Grand Army of the Republic would be defenseless. Right now, she has something far more important she wants to do.

She is on the metal floor of her private quarters, sheltered from the rain pelting the window in her room, mediating on the Force. Like every other time she tries to meditate, darkness and the feeling of a thousand voices crying out to her assault her senses. But this time, she pushes past all of it to find what she is looking for. The darkness that surrounds the elusive Darth Sidious, and especially the Sith Empire, is like a storm. And like a storm, there is an eye at the center that will explain everything, even this sense of dread that she is experiencing.

As she is about to push through the clouds of darkness and achieve the inner peace she has learned to strive for since childhood, she suddenly finds herself in a vision. She is standing in the middle of the Kaminoan city, rain pelting down and dripping off her face, the corpses of clones and Imperial soldiers lying on the ground. In the distance, 6 Imperial ships of a design she has not seen before are floating on the surface of the water several hundred yards in the distance. Suddenly, the darkness around her lashes out and she just barely has time to ignite her lightsaber and deflect the slash from a black lightsaber. She uses the Force to push the figure back and she turns around to see who her assailant is. The woman has mid-back length snow white hair and the iciest blue eyes she has ever seen, standing with a half-dozen men and women wearing black jackets over thick black chestplates and wearing bronze-colored helmets that are shaped like human skulls. Each of them are holding activated lightsabers in their hands that are different colors and designs for the hilt.

'Sith Knights.' Shaak realizes, a shiver running down her back. For the last few battles, it has become painfully obvious that the Empire's main military is being aided by the Sith's version of the Jedi Knights. The Jedi are being left with no choice but to have 2 or 3 Jedi Knights per fleet so they aren't so overwhelmed. This influx of Sith is leading the Jedi Council to believe that there is at least 1 Sith Academy somewhere in the galaxy, training any Force-sensitive they can get their hands on. The woman Shaak threw off growls and charges at her again, slashing at her from all angles with her twin black lightsabers. Shaak does everything she can to deflect the slashes, but the woman's speed is starting to become overwhelming. Using the Force, she pushes the woman off her and slashes at a female Sith Knight that tries to attack her. Shaak slashes at an angle, leaving a deep gash in the Sith and making her gurgle before falling to the ground. The other Sith charge at her at once, but using every ounce of Jedi training Shaak had endured, she manages to cut down the other Sith in seconds. Soon, she is alone with the woman, her white robes billowing around her in the harsh winds and rain pelt them both, steam curling from their lightsaber beams as the rain hits them. Then, all around Shaak, the Sith who were once dead start getting back up and regain their composure. "What…is going on?" Shaak asks, starting to back up from the Sith that are approaching her. Continuing to fight them will only weaken her. Suddenly, the Force screams out to her again and she lunges to the right, avoiding a larger than usual plasma shot. She turns around to see her new assailant and freezes. Floating in front of her is a large, sleek machine with a glowing red face that resembles a human face and is glowing with a strange silver mist-like light. The face glowers down at her, then raises its plasma cannon arm before the light glows inside the barrel and all the Jedi saw next was white.

She lets out a gasp as her eyes shoot open and starts panting as she looks around. She is still in her quarters, rain still pelting the window that gives her a clear view of the city and the ocean it is surrounded by. "What was the Force trying to show me?" She murmurs, just now noticing that she is completely drenched in sweat.

Before she can ponder the meaning of the vision, the door slides open and a Kaminoan walks inside. Shaak immediately recognizes the local of this planet; Taun We, an administrative officer who delivers messages to high-ranking officials. "Master Jedi. Minister Lama Su would like to see you now."

"Thank you, Taun We." Shaak responds, then stands up and follows the elegant Kaminoan out of the quarters. Her feelings will have to wait until this meeting is done. While they are walking down the long, white hallways, Shaak wonders why Taun didn't ask for permission to open the door before entering. The more she thinks about it, the more she suspects that the Kaminoan doctor Nala Se must have advised her against such pleasantries. Despite being one of the best medics and scientists on the planet, Nala Se has made public her distaste for the Jedi ways and that the clones are nothing more than disposable assets.

Shaak Ti is pulled from her thoughts when she arrives at the main meeting room. The Kaminoan Prime Minister is already seated and facing towards her, with Clone Commander Trauma being the only other person in the room. After Jedi Knight Halsey was killed by a mysterious armored Sith, Trauma and any members of his legion that weren't massacred during the Empire's capturing of the Hoth system were transferred to Shaak Ti's command after her commanding clone officer was killed. "Master Ti, please. Have a seat."

The Jedi nodded, and sat down on the seat. "Prime Minister. Thank you for the hospitality you have shown. How are the new clones coming along?"

"They are progressing on schedule and most are ready for immediate deployment." Lama Su responds, leaning into his seat. Ever since the threat of the Confederacy and Sith Empire started to dwindle the ranks of the clone legions, the Senate and Council begrudgingly agreed that it was absolutely necessary to speed up the growth rate of the clones that are constantly being produced. While that means that the clones will have shorter life spans, the need of more troops to assist the Jedi outweighed the detriments.

"Thank you, Minister. Now…" Before Shaak Ti could converse with them much longer, the doors to the council room open and a deck officer runs into the room, not panting from having sprinted from his post.

"I'm sorry to intrude, but this is an emergency." The officer then turns to Shaak Ti. "General, our ship sensors have been tripped by 6 ships and each one failed to send any clearance codes. Whoever has entered the system, they are not allied with the Republic."

Shaak leans forward in her seat, eyes wide with shock. Now she knows why she has been feeling dread all day long; since the Separatists know better than to send a measly 6 ships if they truly wanted to secure the planet, that leaves only one option. And that option shakes her to the core.

"The Sith are on their way. Trauma, gather all troops who can fight and have them man their battle stations, send some men an aiwhas to test their numbers, but make sure that we mainly hold a defensive perimeter around the city. Get the communication officers to patch a message through to the Republic; we've got to hold out until the Republic can send us reinforcements." Trauma nods and gets back to his feet, running away from the large room. She then turns to the 2 Kaminoans who are frozen in place, a look of genuine fear for the first time on their stoic faces. "Stay here. I will have several clones stationed outside to ensure your safety when the fighting starts." The Kaminoans remain in their shocked state before they snap out and nod in response. As the Jedi Master runs out the door to join her troops, she muses on these events. "What are you up to, Emperor Kadabra?"

* * *

 **2:45 pm Gaia Time**

 **Galleon-class Navy warship** _ **Napoleon's Fist**_

 **Kamino's ocean, 20 klicks from Tipoca City**

 **Kamino**

* * *

"Move it, you worthless maggots! Step on it!"

These are the orders being given out by the sergeant majors as the members of the Imperial Navy get their battle armor on. Unlike the teamwork-based members of the Imperial Army, the Navy focuses much more on speed-based attacks and are much more lenient with their actions, so they spend much of their free time playing card games like Black Jack or talk smack about various stuff. Unlike the Army's black armor that is considerably scary, this 6-foot-tall armor is a navy blue with the helmet shaped like the mandalorian helmet and a simple chestplate that can protect them from blaster shots, but is also light enough so the soldiers can stay on near the top of any aquatic surface that they may be swimming on. But the most notable feature is that there are several clips installed onto the back of the armor that allows any jetpack or jet propeller to be installed for quicker motions.

Once the Navy soldiers, both human and goblin, are fully armored up with half wearing jetpacks and half wearing propellers, they start marching up the staircases, past the empty docking bays that are full of large metal crates and one that is strapped down on both sides, shaking slightly and roars coming from the inside. But despite some odd glances at it, the Navy troops manage to maintain their stride as they run up the final set of stairs to reach the service hatch leading to the top.

The hatch opens up and the Navy officers march to the deck of the ship, rain pelting their armor and the wind nearly blowing some of the newer recruits off their feet, but they manage to stay on their feet as they get into a 120-man square formation and face the entrance to the bridge. The double doors that lead to the large bridge slide away from each other and Admiral Moen walks out, the wind blowing his long beard in odd directions. On the right of the Admiral stands another man standing a good head taller than the Admiral, completely garbed in thick black medieval-style armor that covers the entire body and holding his helmet at his side, revealing his pale skin and shoulder-length blonde hair. The only difference is that said helmet at his side is shaped like the ancient Greek's helmets, but with filters and red goggles to completely protect his face. The Navy knows of him as Darth Lancelot, champion of Emperor Kadabra himself, although the Navy in their infamous curse-filled talks nicknamed him the 'Black Knight.' All around them, the Galleon rocks up and down as the ship sails across the Kaminoan sea, traveling towards Tipoca City.

"People, the battle is approaching. We are approaching Tipoca City, so I shall be brief. All jetpack troops, when we are 10 klicks out, activate your jetpacks and engage any Republic forces that try to stop us. The rest of you will follow Darth Lancelot's lead and infiltrate the city so our ships can dock at the capitol without any problems. Capture any Kaminoans who can and seize any cloning technology you can. Hacker Squad will take care of the clone's DNA and data." Moen states with an aged, rough voice that manages to carry through the wind. Two men and two women standing in the front of the forces nod in understanding.

As the war has progressed, several people have started banding together and using their talents to make themselves notorious on the battlefield. Hacker Squad is known for hacking into any computers they can get their hands on, and their reputation is 2nd only to the Imperial Army's famous Bomb Squad. Darth Lancelot looks up at the stormy skies, lightning flashing above them. "I can sense the Republic; they know we're here and their troops are being loaded onto those aiwhas I have heard of. Commence with the attack. Remember Admiral, this mission will not go on longer than it has to."

"Yes, my Lord." Admiral Moen says, looking slightly frustrated with being treated like an inferior in front of his own soldiers. But he wisely keeps silent on the matter.

"There. Off our bow side!" Shouts a goblin, pointing in that direction. Sure enough, in the considerable distance where Tipoca City is, a dozen aiwhas begin flying towards them, ridden by Kaminoan volunteers and clone troopers.

"All jetpack troops, engage now!" Moen shouts before he walks back towards the dry, safe bridge of the ship. All of the Navy who are currently wearing jetpacks run to the edge of the ship, recoil after getting splashed by a particularly large wave, then activate their equipment and rocket into the air, plasma rifles in hand. Once the jetpack troops get within range of the opposing soldiers, chaos breaks out.

Blue plasma bolts and laser blasts go off in all directions as the 2 sides engage one another brutally. One goblin manages to land on the back of a aiwha, gets out a combat knife and slit the clone's neck, making his corpse splash into the ocean. The aiwha doesn't like being taken advantage like that and starts diving towards the ocean, and when the goblin uses his jetpack to try and escape, a stray blaster shot hits him in the throat and the corpse also collapses into the ocean.

"Everything is going as planned." Lancelot mutters as he watches the fire fight for another few seconds before putting the helmet on his head and starts to walk towards the open doorway leading to the staircase that leads to the docking bay, followed closely by the rest of the soldiers who are aboard the ship. Soon, they are back in the docking bay, where Lancelot then makes his way towards the rattling cage.

"Lord Lancelot. If you don't mind me asking, what exactly is in there?" A female Navy soldier asks, pointing to the 20-feet tall crate.

"This is a special surprise that I wanted to show to the Republic." Lancelot responds, then uses the Force to slide open the 6 large bolts holding the door shut then opens the doors. "Isn't that right, Heracles?" He then asks, watching as the monster that Emperor Kadabra had gave him custody over when he became a Darth stares down at him with its 9 sets of yellow reptilian eyes, the hissing sound. Several of the officers back away in abject horror, started to truly fear the Sith they are under the command of.

* * *

 **2:55 pm Gaia Time**

 **On Docking Bay 7**

 **Tipoca City**

 **Kamino**

* * *

Jedi Master Shaak Ti is standing in the middle of the open platform similar to the one where her Jedi Starfighter is parked, her lightsaber drawn and activated as she watches the battle from afar. Behind her, a dozen clones are also holding their blaster rifles up, ready for action, while another 5 dozen clones and 3 AT-TEs are on standby for joining the fight at a moment's notice.

The fresh troops are being ordered to protect the Kaminoan hot spots such as the Prime Minister's hall, cloning facilities and the medical facility where Kaminoan doctor Nala Se is currently residing. Because of the solid formations they are holding, the newer clones are starting to become confident that they will be able to hold out against the Empire.

Shaak Ti and Trauma, however, isn't nearly as confident. They have seen the creative tactics that some of the Empire's Admirals have proven and whenever they throw a new surprise at them, Jedi fall like flies and the Republic, along with the Separatists, lose badly. Shaak Ti and the clone commander continue staring at the 6 Imperial ships as they slowly progress towards Tipoca city, the Imperials starting to hijack the aiwhas so they can continue the aerial dogfight with the clones. "Something's not right." Shaak mutters, staring at the battle intently. The Dark Side radiates from one of the ships, meaning that a powerful Sith is accompanying them. One that she has not encountered before. "Commander, send out more troops on aiwhas to continue dwindling the Empire's numbers and have all heavy cannons from the AT-TEs concentrate fire on the _Napolean's Fist_." She shouts, turning her attention to the clone commander. As she does this, she fails to notice said ship open its docking bays and a large reptilian beast crawls out and into the sea, with dozens of Navy officers following close behind.

"Yes General." Trauma shouts, then gets on his private comm line to coordinate the additional assault while Shaak Ti turns around once more to watch one of the Empire's more infamous capitol warships, continues surging towards Tipoca City. The rest of the Imperial ships also charge towards them, the soldiers running around in all directions on the decks firing plasma blasts into the sky, lighting the battlefield up while lightning occasionally flashes overhead.

As Shaak Ti is about to walk away from the formations to request her own aiwha so she can fight the Sith who is leading the attack when she freezes in place, immensely confused. She can sense that while the Dark Side presence is approaching them, but it is approaching much faster than the Imperial ships that she could see.

Before she can comprehend what exactly this discovery means, the ground below her starts to shake violently. "What the kriff is that?" Shouts a clone in her platoon, nearly falling onto his back from the violent shaking.

"Stand your ground!" Shaak shouts to the clones, turning around and hoping to rally them for when the fight reaches them. Then once again, she stops. The Dark Side presence is uncomfortably close and despite the roaring winds, she can still faintly hear the sound of a reptile hissing in giddiness.

"By the Force." Trauma says, backing away from something behind Shaak Ti and fear starting to radiate from him. Dreading whatever the Empire had sent against them, the Jedi turns around and gasps. Facing her is one of the largest reptilian-like monsters she has ever seen. It has 9 snake-like heads, with such long necks that she can't see the main body, thick scales all pointing back and each pair of yellow eyes glares down at her hungrily. Standing on top of the 5th head to the right is a man wearing thick black battle armor and a helmet that is a different model than the Imperial Army's armor. While the Force is radiating strongly from the 9-headed serpent, the Dark Side radiates particularly strong from the armored man. Stranger than that, she senses some form of Force connection between the two. That will make telekinetic techniques like Animal Friend harder, borderline impossible, to work. "That's the Sith who killed General Halsey and my old unit." Trauma mutters from behind her.

"Who are you?" Shaak asks, looking up at the Sith in question.

"I am Darth Lancelot, champion of Emperor Kadabra. Upon his order, you shall all die by my hand and the heads of Heracles; he is hungry for your flesh." The man says, the apparatus of his helmet distorting his voice, before pulling out a 2 feet long hilt and activates the 5-feet long red lightsaber. The hydra roars in challenge, 2 of its heads pointed towards the clones then thick green smoke billows from the mouths. Five of the clones are caught directly in the smoke and they start screaming in pain before their corpses and armor disintegrates to nothing, and the platform below the survivor's feet starts to disintegrate as well.

While the clones have filters in their helmets, Shaak resists the urge to vomit from the horrid smell of the smoke. But the Force screams out to her once again and she jumps, barely managing to avoid another head trying to eat her whole. "Go! I'll hold him off." She shouts to the clones. But she doesn't look back as she jumps up, avoiding 2 more heads and slashes with her lightsaber at one of the heads.

The head lets out a roar of pain but Shaak Ti pays no mind to the roar of protest as she continues scaling up the hydra's long neck then uses the Force to leap unnatural distances towards the Sith champion. He raises his weapon and easily blocks the attack. Using a surprising amount of strength and the Force, Lancelot pushes the Jedi Master off the monster and manages to land on the ground. She looks up and notices the Sith falling towards her, lightsaber raised over his head with the intent of decapitation. She jumps back and avoids the slash before he charges at her. While the 2 are dueling, one trying to force the other to take the defensive, the monster starts climbing towards one of the open platforms, where the clones and a single AT-TE are laying suppressive fire to the ever-approaching Empire's ships, having no more opposition from the aiwha-riding soldiers but still have to deal with the AT-TE's main cannon. The clones then take notice of the beast and start backing away in horror while the AT-TE fires a single round, which hits one of the necks. It roars in anger before two of the heads grip the opposite ends of the tank, lifting it up before ripping it in half and throwing it in different directions, making any nearby clones dodge to the sides and fall onto their bellies. As if the Republic doesn't have enough to deal with, several more Imperial Navy soldiers climb onto the platform and start firing on the clones, to which they respond with their own shots.

"Why are you here, Sith?" Shaak Ti asks with a calm voice as their duel carries on, the monster's rampage continuing unchecked and the Galleons are about to reach the bottom levels of Tipoca City.

"You will not live long enough to understand what my Emperor wishes." Lancelot responds, equally calmly, before continuing the duel.

* * *

 **3:00 pm Gaia Time**

 **Tipoca City Hallway**

 **Tipoca City**

 **Kamino**

* * *

"Get them!" Shouts a drill sergeant with a light accent as he charges toward the clone troopers, accompanied by a Kaminoan warrior with a shock spear in hand. The troops barely register the approaching enemy before the plasma shot charges towards them, killing the unfortunate clone and punches another one to send him sprawling. The next split seconds give the Republic fighters enough time to raise their weapons, only to get gunned down by the rest of the sergeant's squad.

"Sergeant Baker, you need to stop running into the fray like that." One of the older men, a mandalorian who became a Lieutenant, says once the group reaches their sergeant.

"Doesn't really matter. As long as these inbreds are dying violently on the battlefield, I believe that I am doing my job just fine." Sergeant Baker responds, then turns to 4 human members of the special unit. "Hacker Squad. Get to the main terminal and secure as much data as you can. We will find some Kaminoan doctors to capture."

"Yes sir." One of the women, Private Walker, responds then runs down a side hallway leading off to the left wioth her 3 companions following close behind.

"Sergeant Major? We were asked to capture any Kaminoans that could be of value. Why are we after Kaminoan doctors?" The Lieutenant states, looking down at Baker.

However, the Sergeant doesn't back down and stares into his superior's face. "Sir, Kaminoan warriors are worthless to us. You know why we're here. Their scientists are the only people who can assist us in whatever is going on lately with the Science department."

The mandalorian looks at them then smirks under his helmet. "Good answer. Speaking freely, I admit that I don't know exactly why we are here, but it is not our place to question our Emperor's motives. Let us continue killing off the Republic." With that, the mandalorian unsheathes his combat knife and takes the lead of the group, with the other dozen of his group following close behind.

Unfortunately, the clone troopers are everywhere. The Navy troops continue attacking the troops while taking a few casualties by the time they reach the medical bay. The doors slide open and a dozen clones in shining armor and a single female Kaminoan in a red uniform. The clones begin firing but the mandalorian leaps into action, using all of his training and experience to stab a clone in the chest and slit the throat of another. Meanwhile, Sergeant Major Baker had already knocked out the Kaminoan and he along with his troops are finishing off what's left of the fresh Republic forces.

"Alright. Let's get to work." Baker says, looking around at all the Kaminoan technology.

* * *

 **3:10 pm Gaia Time**

 **Outside of Tipoca City**

* * *

Shaak Ti lets out a light grunt as she parries another slash from Darth Lancelot. Even she has to admit, the fact that he is still going strongly for this long is most impressive. At this point, the clones are in full retreat as the monster and the Navy troops who are still alive continue firing on them.

After another brief moment, Shaak tries to use the Force to knock Lancelot off balance and use it to gain an advantage in the fight. But after the push, he regains his balance at a remarkably fast pace then punches her in the face. The unexpected move makes her fall onto her back and look up at the stormy sky as Darth Lancelot walks into her view. Before he can do anything else, one of the Navy officers walks up to him. "My Lord. The Republic's reinforcements have arrived. We managed to secure the package, though."

"Very good. Tell Admiral Moen to have all troops return to the ships and we will leave immediately." Lancelot says then looks down at her one last time walking out of the view. The adrenaline that was pumping through her body suddenly flows out of her and she falls unconscious. When she wakes up again, she notices that she where she was when she lost consciousness, except that it has stopped raining and thundering. Commander Trauma is also looking into her face.

"General. She's regaining conscience." He says before stepping away and he is replaced by Anakin Skywalker.

"Master Ti. Are you alright?" He asks, hoisting her to her feet. Shaak Ti looks around woozily, noticing dozens of clones looking around the bloodied battlefield, deep gashes left behind by the 9-headed beast and the corpses of the Empire's troops and clones lying everywhere. Three Acclamators hang in the air, protecting the city from any further attack.

"We were fighting the Empire…what happened?" She asks, wanting to know for sure.

Anakin's face sours considerably at hearing the question. "They escaped. By the time we got here to help, the Empire's ships had started re-entering the atmosphere and fled in their 'beamspace' before we could intercept them. The worst part is that Nala Se has been confirmed to be captured and cloning technology of all types have been stolen as well."

Shaak pays no mind to Anakin's frustration, and looks down in thought. Everything about this battle deeply disturbs her; the Empire may have lost many soldiers, but they escaped and they succeeded in their mission. "General Skywalker, we need to find out what Kadabra hopes to use their new knowledge on cloning for."

"I know. We need to make it our priority to find out before it's too late."

* * *

 _AN:_ Well, I'm happy that came all out. Neville has a pet hydra that knows how to rip a new one in the Republic's armies. Don't ask why; the thought a hydra killing clones on Kamino just sounded awesome. As for Project: Adaptor, consider it my way of celebrating the coming of the new Blade Runner movie. I am a fan of the original Blade Runner. I am REALLY hoping that it's really good.

*I confess, I pulled some details out of my butt for this chapter. I have no idea which clone legion Shaak Ti served with and I can't find a name for which clone served with the Jedi during the Clone Wars, so I just improvised on that. Besides, I never actually watched the show and quite frankly, I have no intentions of buying it either; although any advice on how to watch it without bothering with a Netflix account or anything else that requires money or an account is welcome. Quite frankly, I could use my money to get Battlesloths 2025: The Great Pizza Wars or the RWBY Grimm Eclipse DLC.

In addition, I have done my research and have concluded that the 9-headed hydra is a possible addition to the Harry Potter universe. Although since no Greek magical society has been detailed, I have not seen any clue as to what it might look like. I'm thinking Greece might be one of Newt's stops in his Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them series, but I'm doubting it a little.

Anyway, see you all next time when I give the Republic a break and Darth Kadabra goes on a personal mission.

See you then.


	21. Chapter 21: Mission to Serenno

**September 1** **st**

 **2000**

 **10:30 pm Gaia Time**

 **Bridge of Imperial Capitol Ship** _ **Black Phoenix**_

 **1,000 klicks from Serenno**

* * *

 **Harrison Peverell's POV:**

* * *

The deck officers are running around like worker bees, preparing the coordinates and organization for if my cloaked capitol ship is discovered by the Separatists when I reach Dooku's homeworld. While this is happening, I am watching the massive Separatist fleet in orbit around the planet.

I admit, I wanted to kill Admiral Moen for his incompetence regarding Mon Calamari, but my patience has rewarded me with Moen more than redeeming himself on Kamino. While he did have help from Darth Lancelot, Moen managed to secure dozens of pieces of Kaminoan technology and secured Nala Se, one of the top scientists on the planet.

The Force was on my side involving the scientist. All I needed was a touch of Force Persuasion, a guarantee that she will be one of the top scientists in my Empire and a promise for any Force-sensitives to stay out of the way of her work since she clearly looks down on the Force and the spiritual focus its users emphasize, and she jumped right into working for me and showing her new colleagues how to operate the salvaged Kaminoan technology.

However, as she lectured us on the history of the production of the clone army so we can understand our enemy better and so we can mass-produce cloned skin for Project: Adaptor's benefit, she also said something that caught my attention. She said that while Jedi Master Sifo-Dyas had ordered the Grand Army of the Republic to be formed, she reminded me that it was Jango Fett, my favorite bounty hunter, who made the basis for the clones. And I heard from him personally years ago that he was recruited by Count Dooku. Recently, I had re-activated my sleeper agent who lives within the Jedi Temple and after making sure no one is listening in, asked her what is happening in the Jedi Temple and any rumors that might be going around. The first thing she's told me is that very few Jedi know of the Mavens, and that the security around the temple has quadrupled since my Empire has entered the war and proven that we are not above outright genocide to achieve our goals. So, I ordered her to launch an attack on the temple to prove that the Jedi Order is truly senile and can't protect the Republic. Weave doubt into the Jedi and the arguments will spiral out of control.

The next thing I've heard is related to that boy who's left me somewhat worried; Sander Blanco. Specifically, I've heard is that he likes reading fairy tales in the Jedi Library whenever he's not at war to the point where he sneaks out of his dorm at night often. He recently got into an argument with Jedi Master Windu regarding these late-night adventures and, most recently, the sleeper had stated that during a brief break on Corusant from the war, she witnessed that the reason Sander does his sneaking out is so he can get free time to practice on how to fire a blaster rifle. And from what I've heard, he's damn talented.

Some in the Navy would consider me a wuss if they learned I am anxious about a Jedi boy who recently turned 7, and I would normally agree. But I see the un-predictableness of youth in him, as well as a resolve to fight even when he lost and a constant streak of independence that makes him harder to predict than even the most unpredictable of Jedi. Essentially, he is a loose cannon that I need to eliminate before this war is over.

Lastly and most importantly, a 2nd Jedi maverick known as Quinlan Vos has been sent by the Jedi Council to team up with ex-Sith, now bounty hunter Asajj Ventress, to assassinate Count Dooku after he ripped off Supreme Admiral Vizsla's genocidal bombings on Mahranee in the Mid Rim*. Which means that I might be meeting them on Serenno, so I need to be prepared for that inevitability.

Right now, I am walking away from the bridge and that chaos, and am making my way towards the bridge of the ship. Dap is standing in the middle of the docking bay, her snow-white robes hanging at her sides, straight white hair falling past her shoulders and a large silver diadem with a dark blue gem in the center. She is watching as Lieutenant Wilson rallies his pilots to take to their fighters in case things get hairy while a single Arrow is being prepared for myself and 3 Maven soldiers.

Normally, whenever my Empire arrives in an enemy's star system, we would charge in and make the Republic and Separatists suffer dearly. But since the Republic is so whiplashed from trying to find my armies, I decided to take pity on them and give them a break so I could have time to come to this planet and talk with my former master, to interrogate him as to who this Darth Sidious is I've heard about for months and what he's up to. I mean, he ordered his apprentice to take a bounty hunter and use him to form an army of clones for his enemy. That stinks of conspiracy to me and my instincts are also telling me that some sort of back-stabbing protocol has been installed into the clones. That protocol might have some basis in those chips that Nala Se mentioned during her lecture on the process of how the clones are manufactured.

I walk towards Dap, who turns and notices me. Despite being a Sith, she still looks like an older version of the woman I met when I returned to Hogwarts years ago. That is something that I can respect. "Hey." She says, still standing there but smiling at me. For my persona, I fight down my own smile, but put up a Force illusion so I could look like the man that Dap married and a Force Shield so no one can hear us. I pull her into a hug and look at her. "I've missed you."

"Me too. I know that I've been so busy lately, but I promise that when this mission is done, we will go back to Gaia and we can have some time just to ourselves."

"I would like that."

"Good luck." I whisper back, then I break the invisible Force barrier then I walk towards a particular Arrow on the left side of the docking bay facing the hatches.

Sitting all around a crate of weapons that is being used as a makeshift table are the 3 Maven soldiers with their helmets lying on the ground to their left, so their faces are revealed. The agents are the gold-armored Pennsylvania, white-armored Illinois, and the turquoise-armored Hawaii. While Agent Hawaii isn't the strongest or the most intellectual Maven, she is one of the unit's best scouts and certainly one of its fastest. While the psychopathic Daniel Cadmus who became Agent Illinois has an odd habit of stalking his victims to assess them before killing them, he too has shown exceptional skill on getting around without being seen.

Agent Pennsylvania too is adept at infiltration, but that's not the reason I'm bringing him along. I had had heard a phrase on Gaia a long time ago, and it goes like this; "Keep your friends close, but keep your enemies closer." Don't get me wrong, I don't consider Karel my enemy…yet. It's just that every time I'm around him, the more the Force tells me that there's more to the boy than he is letting on, secrets that he is keeping from the Empire that could shatter everything I've worked so hard to build with just the right. Until I can get over this feeling, I don't have any intention of letting him out of my sight. Suddenly, the 3 soldiers sense my Force presence and look up from their game of Poker, in which they are betting their valuables. Karel has the box for the original 1982 Blade Runner movie, Lily Hart has a dozen magazines featuring tropical locations, while Daniel has 6 novels written by Stephen King at his side. I enjoy reading many of Stephen Kings' works in my free time, but 'It', the novel featuring 7 discontent kids who must fight an interdimensional monster that manifests into their worst fears, is where Stephen really outdid himself. Just thinking about it makes me shiver with giddiness.

The second the 3 soldiers notice me, they immediately stand up, the cards flying in all directions and salute me. "I see that you have been busy." I remark, no emotion in my voice although I am slightly amused as to how quickly they reacted to my appearance.

"Yes, my Emperor. We are just waiting for the pilot to prepare checking the systems on the ship before we are ready to go." Lily responds quickly, and while she looks calm on the outside, a sense of fear is starting to build up around her.

I smirk slightly before focusing my attention away from her specifically. "Alright, you might be wondering as to why we are the only Imperial ship going to Serenno. So, I'll be brief. I will be going to Count Dooku's personal palace to investigate something that's been going on behind all of our backs."

"Do we get to kill anyone?" Daniel asks, his dark brown eyes shining with an inner insanity that makes even me a little worried.

"If any droids or civilians impede you, Agent Illinois, you may dispose of them. However, you will not join me when I infiltrate Dooku's palace. You will have a more important job; scavenge the wreckage of the _Traveler_. That's right, the same freighter used by the space pirate, Daniel Rey. The Separatists made their greatest mistake yet; they kept the ship as a trophy of triumph over the Republic in Dooku's very backyard, corpses and all. The death there must make it a perfect place for Sith to meditate on the Dark Side. Are there any questions?"

To my surprise, Karel is the only one who is raising his hand. "Why are we scavenging the wreckage of a pirate's ship. Famous or not, he's just a space pirate. What do you expect us to find?"

I mull over his words for a few seconds. Admittedly, the boy does have a point. "You will be scavenging the ship for anything that could be of value to us. It is common knowledge that the pirate had a habit of being extremely thorough of keeping track of every place he's been to, in the event of him needing to die up any loose ends. I want you to scour the ship for anything that might be of use but I want you to find those logs; every place the _Traveler_ has stopped, every hideout in the galaxy they own; those facilities will give us new routes and help us find new opening to strike at the Republic. Am. I. Clear?"

Karel looks back at me, and simply nods in response. Just then, the fully-suited pilot steps out of the front of the Arrow and walks towards us. "Sir, my ship is ready for take-off."

"Very good, pilot. Take us down to the palace."

The man nods, saluting me in respect and runs back onboard the transport. I walk onboard the ship with the 3 Mavens following close behind, putting their helmets on and abandoning their game of Poker. We walk onboard then strap ourselves into the seats of the ship. Seconds later, I can feel the transport lift up off the ground and fly forward, clearing the docking bay and flying down to the planet's surface. Below my feet, the transport's ground starts to rise in temperature but manages to stay the same color and holds together.

The transport continues to fly down to the planet's surface, with me using my Sith cloaking to cover up our Force signatures for the time being, until the transport levels out and hangs in the air for several consistent seconds. "Well, this is my stop. Do not fail this mission." Once I say those last words, I unbuckle myself and stand up before walking to the front of the Arrow where the hatch is lying open and ready for me.

Gripping the edge of the open hatch, I look down at the small courtyard in front of Dooku's palace, glowing green against the night. It may not be Peverell Manor, but I admit that it is beautiful in its own way. Using the Force, I jump out of the transport, floating several yards above the courtyard. My dark blue robes, hanging loosely around a black chest plate decorated with images of 2 dragons roaring at each other's faces as they stand on rocky cliffs, with an equally tall man wearing a lion skin coat in the middle, and thick leg plating, billows around me as I fall to the ground, smashing into the ground.

Not noticing the Arrow flying away towards the wreckage of the Traveler, I casually walk towards the palace of Count Dooku. As I continue walking, I notice a pair of droidekas rolling towards me, alerted of my presence. I use the Force to lift the droidekas into the air and smash them together, sending their scraps flying into the walls of the palace.

Smirking in satisfaction with my accomplishment, I stroll past the double line of obelisks that flank the main entrance, and again use the Force to smash the main entrance open. I continue walking through the extravagantly-decorated hallways, lined with statues before coming to another set of double doors. Oddly enough, I don't encounter any service droids along the way; Dooku must know I am here already.

I stop in front of the double doors then use the Force to push them inward and notice half a dozen B1 battle droids and 4 MagnaGuards pointing their weapons at me. Smirking, I left my Demon's Hand and shoot out several bolts of black Sith lightning. Just like the EMP Cannons, the Sith lightning makes all of the droids groan under the sudden surge of electricity before de-activating and falling to the ground. I quickly use the Force to push the droids into a corner so they won't impede my stroll that ends when I reach the throne at the far side of the chamber, a glowing green glass window behind the throne and its occupant.

"Ah, Harrison Peverell. Or should I call you Emperor?" Dooku asks, still sitting on his throne and looking down at me.

"No, Count. We are of equal status in our respective causes so we can dispose of the formalities."

"Indeed. When I felt you arrive on Serenno, I thought it was one of your lackeys who you sent to assassinate me. But your presence is a great surprise to me." Dooku responds, still maintaining a calm persona despite his anxiety starting to rise.

"Believe me, I would not normally come to an enemy stronghold if I had nothing to gain from it. But I have some questions that need answering; questions that only you know the answer to."

Dooku looks at me, and for the first time in years, I see genuine confusion on his face. "Go on."

"For starters, I would like to know who your master is." I reply, leaning against the right wall casually.

Dooku just continues staring, his face no longer showing any emotion. "I don't know the identity of my master."

I let out a low growl of anger. "Don't lie to me, Dooku. I know you know who he is. I want to know who he is behind his persona and why he rigged the clones with protocol chips."

Dooku's eyes widen in shock at hearing me say that, and he stands up, walking down the steps and standing almost directly in front of me. Now, his face has rejection written on it. "I see that you are well informed. I suppose since you are Sith like me, I owe this piece of knowledge to you; My master, Darth Sidious, is a member of the Republic's Senate and after this war is over, the Jedi will fall and the Sith will rise. I'm truly sorry that we ended up leading different sides of the Sith Order." As he continues talking, I notice my former master slip a hand into his robes.

Knowing what he's going for, I start reaching for my own lightsaber. "I agree. But we are Sith; it is in our nature to fight and prove who's best. To quote a phrase I heard a long time ago, 'There can only be one.'"

"I couldn't agree with that sentiment more, my former padawan. Which is why I must test you with my new apprentice." Dooku lifts one of his hands and snaps his fingers. From out of the shadows, a tall man with shoulder-length dreadlocks, tanned skin and a noticeable yellow tattoo running across his face. My eyes widen in surprise as I recognize him and notice his glowing amber eyes. So, Dooku managed to turn Jedi Knight Quinlan Vos to the dark side in the end. I must say, this is unexpected. Quinlan then lifts up his lightsaber and the green beam shoots out of the hilt.

I whip out my own lightsaber, then set off the mechanism that transforms it into the Light Scythe before activating it. "You want to fight? You are going to get one." I answer then wait until Quinlan charges at me, roaring in challenge and tries to slash me in half with pure speed. But I lift up the Light Scythe and block the attack with ease, then use the weight of the over-sized weapon to throw him to the side and begin our duel. Quinlan Vos is talented in combat, but my greater reach and need for strength is starting to give me an edge in the fight. Quinlan knows this and tries to use the Force to speed up his attacks, finished with a Force push to try and knock me off-balance. Instead of taking the assault head-on, I leap into the air and go backwards to avoid the onslaught and when he tries to use the Force, I send my own towards him, canceling the 2 Force powers out. In the moment of silence that follows, I lift my Demon's Hand and send a sharp wave towards him. He dodges the attack and slashes downward with the intent of cleaving me again. But lucky me, I am ready for the attack. I slash upward, effectively slicing Quinlan's right arm off. He lets out a roar of agony, the Dark Side exploding from him and throwing me back considerably, but I roll back onto my feet and hold up my light scythe. Quinlan is looking at the stump that once was his right arm, then looks back up at me and growls.

But before our duel can continue, the glass behind Dooku's throne shatters inward and Ventress leaps through, red lightsabers ignited and ready for action. She lands in the middle of the field and has a look around to assess what's going on. "Dooku." She growls, then notices me. Her eyes widen in shock at seeing me, and she starts to make a move towards me when she notices Quinlan, on one knee and cradling his stump of a limb.

She lowers her lightsabers in shock before walking towards Quinlan. Albeit reluctantly, I step aside and watch Ventress kneel down to Quinlan's eye level; the Dark Side is telling me to do so. "Come on. I'm not leaving without you." She says softly. Much soften than I was expecting from a bounty hunter like her. But I can't myself from raising my eyebrows when I sense her feelings. They are surprisingly strong towards the Jedi, which can only mean one thing; she is in love.

But instead of looking happy at seeing Ventress, Quinlan has a look of utter hatred on his face. "You want to escape? Why would I escape with the woman who killed my master?" He asks, his eyes flashing yellow with hatred and standing up.

Ventress takes a long step back, betrayal and grief running through her face, then she looks at me. I could swear her eyes smoldered for a second as her eyes settled on me. "You did this to him." She then starts running at me, raising her lightsabers and lets out a battle cry as she charges forward at an alarming rate. However, I maintain my calmness and lift my Demon's Hand, sending a wave of black lightning at her. She uses even greater speed to dodge the wave of lightning and tries to slash at me with one of her lightsabers. But I throw my light scythe in the same direction, and stopping her attack dead in place. She tries to slash at me with her other lightsaber, but I use the Force to freeze her arm in place.

"I didn't do anything to the Jedi. But I don't like how you try to attack me while I'm occupied, so I will return the favor." I say, then make good on my promise. I push the Force backward, making her arm snap in the opposite direction.

She breaks our stalemate to shout in pain and fall to the ground, gripping her dislocated arm. Dooku watches the duel with great interest before clapping loudly for me. "You really have improved over the years, Harrison. And you have shown me that none of my apprentices are worthy of my training anymore." Dooku says, lifting up his own lightsaber and activating it.

"Good. That makes killing you so much easier for me." Ventress says, deciding to do what she went to Raxus for; to end the life of Dooku. As the 2 start clashing lightsabers with Ventress holding her limp arm behind her back, Quinlan gets back onto his feet, using the Force to pull his lightsaber into his good hand and activates it. I smirk and get ready for Round 2, but this time, I'll need to be wary.

The dark side is swirling around the fallen Jedi like a typhoon, but it's his signature Force technique I need to be careful of. All he has to do is touch my lightsaber or anything on me and he can sense every place it's been to. Which means that he could discover the location of Gaia and the Separatists, and potentially the Republic, will come a-knocking at my Empire's door. As long as I draw breath, that will never happen.

The 2 of us start engaging in our own duel, and it's becoming painfully obvious what the outcome of our duel will be. No matter how much the dark side is fueling his strength and resolve, he has little experience with manipulating it to its full potential and his loss of an arm is certainly hindering his movements and capabilities. As I continue casually swinging around my light scythe, making the fallen Jedi continue evading me, I sense something that is most interesting. Just outside of the palace, I can sense a dozen newcomers and from the sounds of it, they are engaged in a duel with the battle droids protecting the facility. Ventress must have brought her bounty hunter allies to help her bring back Vos. But considering the fact that he has the potential of ruining everything I have spent years to build, I can't allow him to leave this planet alive.

But I am broken from my concentration when Ventress slashes at Dooku again, only for the Sith to block the attack. "You have grown soft, Ventress. I think it's time for your friends to die."

She glares back at him defiantly and slashes at him with more speed and emotion in her movements in before. Planning my move carefully, I stare at the dueling Sith exchange words long enough for Vos to think he will catch me off-guard and slashes at me once more. Smirking slightly, I grip my light scythe then step to the right and slash upwards. His other arm is severed and I don't waste any time before spinning in a full 360 and slashing the weapon directly through his waist. Vos just stares forward, his eyes returning to their normal color before glazing over and just stares forward for several moments. Then, his body starts sliding apart and his 2 halves fall to the ground, spilling their blood on the stone floors.

Ventress senses the death, along with Dooku, and they briefly stop their fight to see me standing over the corpse of Quinlan Vos. For the first time, I see horror cross Ventress's face as her eyes set upon Vos's lifeless face. "You killed him. You monster!" Ventress shouts, then charges at me recklessly.

I smirk at her berserk move while sending an even larger wave of Force lightning at her. It hits the bounty hunter dead on and makes her fall to the ground, gasping for breath and steady her nerves from the pain of a particularly violent lightning. "I've had enough of this nonsense." I growl and use the Force to lift both Dooku and Ventress, letting them dangle in the air helplessly and flail about. "Ventress, let us say hello to your friends." I then use the Force to freeze them mid-air, then throw them out of the entrance to Dooku's throne room. "Oh, this is going to be fun."

I run after them, switching my light scythe back to a normal lightsaber mode along the way. I continue using the Force to fuel my running until I reach the outside of Dooku's mansion. The courtyard is in chaos; a shuttle is crashed onto the ground several yards away, spider droids and B2 battle droids firing upon a variety of notorious bounty hunters. Bossk, Latts Razzi, Boba Fett, just to name a few. I could try to have Boba extracted to Gaia so he can work for my Empire, but I get the feeling that his lone-wolf style of taking on bounties and my failure to have him evacuated to Gaia would only isolate the boy. Besides, he seems like a natural bounty hunter, and if there's anything I've learned from Jango, it's that you better not interrupt a bounty hunter's job…or else.

Dooku and Ventress stand back up, with the droids and bounty hunters no longer firing at each other and pointing their weapons at me. Ventress winces as she grips her limp arm, and looks at her fellow bounty hunters. "We're leaving. Now." She then uses the Force to start running away from the small battlefield, already littered with scorch marks and noticeable craters in the ground. Any battle droids that try to get in her way are cut down by her only lightsaber as she makes her escape, followed by several confused and angry-looking bounty hunters.

That just leaves Dooku, dozens of battle droids that survived the smoldering wreckage, and myself. Dooku and I just stare each other down, holding our respective lightsabers and staring at each other, waiting to see who will strike first. This situation reminds me greatly of a Mexican standoff. Before any of us could make the first move, a B1 with yellow striping on it walks up to his master. "Count Dooku. You are needed at the command center. We have identified a ship of an unknown model. We suspect it belongs to the Sith Empire."

Dooku raises his eyebrow at the droid while I start cursing in Spanish. They managed to discover the _Black Phoenix_ and now they are trying to destroy it. Dooku looks at me, a small smirk forming on his face. "I'm sorry our duel has to end like this. Kill him." Dooku says, then starts walking off. As the droids lift up their blasters to attack me, I sense something else. The Arrow that had dropped me off is coming around to pick me up.

I stifle a laugh as an awesome idea comes to mind. As the droids start opening fire, I run out from under the palace cover towards the battle droids as they fire their blaster shots at me. I swing my lightsaber in all directions to deflect the shots back to the droids and what I don't reflect I use the Force to send them flying towards the unfortunate droid that shot it. As I continue running out, the Arrow flies over Dooku's palace and dives towards the ground before leveling out and flying towards me, the hatch open and waiting for me to jump in.

I continue running forward, slashing my lightsaber in all directions before I jump into the air. The Arrow's open hatch swallows me whole, along with some scraps of a B2 droid. As I walk up the ramp, the hatch closes shut and engages the automatic locks. Soon, I reach the main body of the ship where the 3 Mavens are already strapped in and ready for takeoff. "Did you retrieve the package?"

Agent Illinois pulls a small data chip out of his armor and lifts it up so I can see it. "And then some, my Emperor. I'm saddened to say that I didn't get to kill anyone; just some droids."

"Did you find what you were looking for?" Agent Pennsylvania asks from his seat, ignoring Illinois's next comment. I stare at Pennsylvania for a second, and I fight the urge to raise an eyebrow at his emotions. He seems…unsettled about something. He must have found something on the _Traveler_ that caught him by surprise. Considering that it's a space pirate's ship, he must have found some form of interrogation room or something. No matter.

"Oh yes. Everything is so much clearer to me." With those last comments, I get knocked forward when the Arrow rises into the air and begins the journey out of the atmosphere. I grab one of the side-railings and pull myself into the seat, after-which I strap myself in and focus and putting up a Force barrier around the transport so Dooku can't intercept our escape.

For the entire trip back to the _Black Phoenix_ , I contemplate what Dooku had told me. Sidious is a member of the Senate. There are too many Senators to run through, so I'll focus on the famous people. Padmé Amidala is an interesting choice, but unlikely. She is lobbying to end the Clone Wars, something that the Sith is benefitting from. And the other suspect… my eye widens in shock and I just barely hold myself back from cracking up from laughter. If what Dooku said is true, and I felt no deception from him when he said it, then he is accusing Supreme Chancellor Palpatine of being the false Sith who is hiding right under the Jedi's nose and trained Dooku in the ways of Darth Bane's version of the Sith. It makes so much sense now; Palpatine has been gaining more and more emergency powers as the war has progressed, and considering how so many blindly follow him like the wizards did when Voldemort had returned, he is putting himself in a position to wipe out the Jedi who will be left and make himself Emperor of the galaxy without opposition. By the Force, the Jedi have become so arrogant if they haven't sensed a conspiracy on this level yet. This also means that he won't surrender willingly; It's looking more and more like I will need to crush his clone armies under my boots and feel his very blood dripping down my hands if I want to end this war.

Within minutes, I can hear the pilot sending out clearance codes so it can dock on the _Black Phoenix_ and after another few seconds, the transport sets down on a solid surface. "Alright, everyone. This is our stop." The pilot calls to us.

I stand up and walk out of the hatch, with the rest of the Mavens following close behind. As they get to talking and engaging in whatever they are doing, I am walking past the fighters as they land their fighters on the ground and start bitching about the scratches left on the ships from scorch marks. The pilots of the Z-wings in particular are swearing at the top of their lungs that they will murder any Separatists they get their hands on since they were the ones who dropped small atomic torpedoes on the Separatist warships.

I ignore all of this as I make my way to the bridge, and when I reach the bridge, we are already traveling through Beamspace and already back at the Esfandia system. As the deck officers mill about, I walk up to Dap while her back is turned to me. However, she senses my presence but stays where she is, even after I give her a hug. "I'm glad to see you in one piece, Harry. How did your mission go?"

"I learned many new things about who our enemy is. And I must say, Captain Gibbs was right. There is some major conspiracy shit going on, but I'll tell you about it later." I then let go of my wife and ask her something I need to know. "What is the status of our ship?"

Dap turns around and looks at me, a grim look on her face. "Our deflector shields are down to 15% and will need a few days to repair them, and we lost 10 fighters when the Separatists discovered our heat signatures. But since we were alone in the fight and held out against 5 Separatist ships, even managing to destroy 2 of them with Z-wings dropping their atomic weapons, we fared well."

I look down at the ground, letting the report sink in. "But not well enough." Over the last few months, no matter how well the Empire fights, the casualties are starting to rise considerably and despite suffering very few losses of warships, they still get damaged constantly. Not to mention the fact that the Republic is starting to mass produce warships on planets like Corellia, hoping that numbers will even the playing field with my Empire.

Well, then, two can play at that game. I have an idea that will even the production of warships, supplying my warships with even more durable metals, energy shields that can recharge given a period of time, and give me a means to mass-produce the Adaptors if I want to spread them across the galaxy. But this idea is very, _very_ dangerous and if I can't find a way to control it, this plan could very easily blow up in my face.

Only the Star Forge can meet my demands and only those who live in the Unknown Regions can tell me where the wreckage of the ancient station can be found. Time to go fishing.

* * *

 _AN:_ Sorry if this chapter didn't turn out as good as you expected; I needed a filler chapter of sorts to fill in the gap of what happens now to what happens next chapter. Believe me, it will be a double whammy for the Republic.

*Again, I am improvising on some details. I don't know if they are accurate, but I can't find anything that states otherwise. Wookiepedia has its limits sometimes.

Also, I am happy to announce that starting next chapter, I will be setting up a Q&A for all of your comments.

For some clearance as to one of the last sentences of the chapter, I am simply stating that the Adaptors can be produced in the state the Empire is in right now. But if they want to produce them by the hundreds, they need more advanced technology.

See you next time when the first Adaptors are produced and they will aid the Mavens who, for the first time, are sent to infiltrate Corusant.


	22. Chapter 22: Attack on Coruscant

**October 31** **st**

 **2000**

 **5:30 am Gaia Time**

 **Old Jho's Pit Stop**

 **Jhothal**

 **Lothal**

* * *

 **3** **rd** **Person POV:**

* * *

The blue plasma shot fires from the plasma rifle, soaring through the air to an unsuspecting clone that is patrolling outside before colliding with his head.

His head explodes and the body crumples to the ground, blood spilling on the ground.

Private Alan Temple ducks back into the small tavern in the heart of this out-of-the-way town. Inside the make-shift base, the corpses of his comrades are lying around, scorch marks and shrapnel of rockets embedded into their bodies. Temple had tried to do everything he could to help his squad, but they just couldn't hang on. In the last month, reports of rebel activity on this back-water system had spread, but the Empire put it down, massacring everyone in the small town who didn't flee to Capitol City. Of course, the Republic had heard stories of the rebellion and sent an Acclamator to assist the insurgents in freeing their world from the Empire. Of course, when they discovered that the Empire had killed all the rebels, the clones decided to continue with the mission anyway. While the Acclamator and most of their LAATs were gunned down by the Drakkar still in orbit, over two hundred clones and 20 LAATs successfully landed planetside and have been assaulting the nearest base.

The battle has raged on for a long time, and by now, all Imperial soldiers but Private Temple have become KIA. Temple watches from his cover inside the shop as 4 more clones run into the empty streets, start arguing over where the shot came from, before their leader shouts at his comrades to quiet. "Men. We have some surviving troops. I don't know how many there are, but we know that they are watching us. Spread out and find them."

Temple then ducks behind the bar, hiding while the clones conduct their search. As the spotlights of the clones sweep through the barren alleys, Temple pulls out his lucky combat knife he named Tyrant. Despite protocol looking down on it, Temple had it modified to his liking so now it has a black leather grip on it, with a hollow compartment inside so he can take his Swiss Army knife with him and cut the knife's edge so that the sharp edge has gear-like teeth on it. A true tool of death in his opinion.

As the Imperial soldier continues ducking behind the bar, the spotlights of the clone soldiers sweep overhead and the soft steps of the clones marching in can be heard. As Temple is about to jump out from cover and ambush the clone, he speaks up. "Clear, sir. Let's get going, these guys give me the creeps even when they're dead." The clone then runs out of the bar and into the street to reunite with his comrades.

For the first time since the battle started, Temple lets out a small sigh of relief, wiping the sweat off his face. Since the air is breathable and so he can fire with more accuracy, he decided to take off his mask. Just then, a holographic device starts beeping, making Temple jump then look around. Fortunately, the clones had already moved on. Cautiously, Temple crawls out and makes his way to the comm device that is lying on the corpse of his sergeant. Temple pushes the button on the side of the circular black device and the device flares to life. The image of a man with penetrating black eyes as dark as his Imperial captain's suit with the last name 'Gibbs' written on his right side with a medal to commemorate his rank and is not wearing any hat to hide his short grey hair. "T-this is Private First-Class Alan Temple reporting in, s-sir." Temple says, a noticeable tremor in his voice. He has gladly admit it to himself; he is scared of the situation he is in.

"Soldier, why isn't your Sergeant responding to this call?" Gibbs asks sharply.

"Sir, he's dead. I'm the last one."

The captain's face turns from stone-cold to solemn. "I see. Private, how long have you been holding out against the Republic?"

Temple thinks it over, but it takes a few seconds since his brain is so sluggish from fear and exhaust. "…Captain, this is Day 5. I've killed over a hundred of those bastards."

Captain Gibb's look then turns from grim to shock before his composure returns. "I see. Private, secure a safe place and hold out. I will send a strike force in 15 to assist you in clearing out the clones."

"Thank you, sir." Temple says, saluting shakily before the comm line is cut. Temple leans against the wall, letting out a sigh of exhaustion and rubbing his eyes. Thank goodness that his CO had been secretly hounding Coke Cola-flavored caffeine pills, otherwise Temple would have fallen asleep days ago. In this situation, sleep can only lead to death.

Temple reaches into his armor pockets and pulls out a picture of his wife holding a little girl in her arms. The little girl, Sarah, is the daughter of his best friend, George Biff, who was killed by the Jedi twins Tiplee and Tiplar when they engaged the Empire over control of Ringo Vinda, the first planet in the Mid Rim to fall to the Empire. Sadly, the Jedi and their clone commander, Doom, escaped the battle along with a few Republic warships. "I'm not fighting the Republic, who breed men to fight for them like slaves, for those arrogant Sith. I'm not even fighting for the Emperor. I am fighting to keep you 2 safe. Biff, Georgina, you will not be forgotten. I promise that this war will end in violence."

Temple lets out a shaky breath, closing his eyes for a few seconds before he opens his eyes again. He puts his picture back into his armor, checks to make sure Tyrant is ready for action before raising his plasma rifle and pulling out the plasma clip that is on the bottom of the gun. After he carefully walks through the abandoned bar, he grabs a plasma rifle on the ground and pulls out the plasma cartridge before inserting it into his own rifle.

With that done, Temple sheathes his plasma rifle then silently runs out of the wrecked tavern. While they are a good distance away, he can still see the clones patrolling the town they have been assaulting. As stealthily as he can, Temple runs towards the abandoned stall on the opposite side of the tavern. He then climbs up the wall of the building, his sharp fingers digging into its stone walls as he climbs up. Eventually, he makes it to the top of the building and unsheathes his plasma rifle. Slowly and carefully, he steps towards the edge and looks over the edge. Below him, a dozen clones are patrolling through the streets, with a make-shift camp made from the remains of the LAATs gunned down by the mounted plasma cannons with dozens of clones sitting around a hastily-made campfire.

Slowly, Temple lifts the plasma rifle up and points it at a dozen clones standing in the middle of the block in front of the bar. He then points his rifle at the head of an unsuspecting clone holding a blaster cannon in his hands. A split second later, he fires his rifle then throws it to the ground and jumps to the ground, unsheathing Tyrant as he falls to the troops.

"Thorn!" One of the clones shouts then looks up to where the shot came from, only to receive the combat knife to the face. Temple then rips it out, blood spewing onto his face and arms then starts swinging around in all directions. Within seconds, all of the clones fall to the ground with slash marks all over their chests.

The Imperial soldier smirks in triumph, wiping the blood from Tyrant and running down the streets, grabbing his plasma rifle along the way. "I heard something this way." Shouts a clone, then on all sides of the abandoned streets, the clones appear. They notice the soldier and begin laying suppressing laser fire. Temple rolls to the side and has no choice but to hide in the building as the clones continue firing on him. "We know you're in there! Come out and we might show you mercy." The same clone says after the clones stop firing.

"Mercy? You know this can only end with corpses on the ground!" Temple shouts back, trying his best to keep his growing fear and exhaustion at bay.

"So be it. Open…" The clone didn't get to finish the sentence as several more plasma shots go off, striking the clones down quickly.

Hesitantly, Temple looks up and sees 2 dozen Imperial Army soldiers with jetpacks on their backs and waving their weapons around for any other resistance. One of the soldiers, with a red plume on his helmet and white stripe on his arm to commemorate him as Commander, snaps the neck of the final living clone, then turns to the lone survivor. And on this planet, only one officer is stationed here. "General Gar Saxon." Temple says, standing up and saluting. Temple is afraid of almost no one, but the Emperor himself and the General are the few people on his list.

"Private Temple." Saxon says, looking around at the carnage. "Well done; even I am impressed that you managed to survive this long. Get him out of here."

"Yes sir." One of the female soldiers under his command says, saluting him then she swings one of Temple's arms over his shoulder and drags him to an Arrow that is docked several yards away. "You did a good job."

Temple just bobs his head up and down slowly; the caffeine pills he took an hour ago start wearing off then before he knows it, he closes his eyes and falls asleep.

* * *

 **2:30 pm Gaia Time**

 **Imperial Complex Alpha**

 **Ceremony Hall**

 **Dantooine**

* * *

 **Harrison Peverell's POV:**

* * *

I am currently sitting in the front row seat, watching as the ceremony goes on.

After my mission to Serenno, I made good on my promise to Dap and returned to Gaia so I could spend as much time with my family as I could. I enjoyed every minute I was with them, and I had a hard time leaving them again so I could return to Dantooine.

Under my Empire's occupation, Dantooine has become a true titan of a planet, with dozens of military bases spread across the surface and over a hundred Trireme and Drakkar warships standing by, not to mention the dozens of Camel-class walkers and mounted plasma cannons that have been proven to rip an unshielded LAAT apart like wet paper. While some may think that the millions of civilians are buckling under the Empire's hand, they are not. I have personally put Admiral Granger's headquarters on this planet, and she is making sure that no one is mistreated here.

The relationship between Imperial soldier and Dantooine civilian is quite similar to a symbiotic relationship. They help run the factories that produce plasma for the weapons and the albeit slow production of warships and troop recruitment, and the Empire gives them justice that the Republic could never provide, food so no one goes starving and protection from the Separatists or Republic if they try to take this key planet.

Right now, I am attending an award ceremony for all the successful and noteworthy soldiers who risked their lives for my Empire and as such, they are rewarded for their devotion.

I lose interest in the ceremony as it goes on, but at the very end, I sit forward in my seat and watch with interest. Hours ago, General Gar Saxon had sent in a late request for one of his men to receive the Gold Star. A high honor for a mere Private First-Class and coming from Saxon of all officer, that is noteworthy to say the least. I then watch as the Imperial soldier, with pale skin and short black hair, walks up the steps to receive the medal.

After his medal is pinned onto his crisp white uniform, the audience breaks out into applause. I, however, stand up and walk to the side corridors that lead into the hall to ponder the events that have been happening lately. Sure, the amount of time Private Temple survived in enemy territory is a new record, but it also reveals something else. The people are becoming bolder, more willing to fight back against me. And the Republic has been trying to support these insurrections in any way they can.

It's time to set my newest plan into motion. With some skill and a touch of luck, the Empire will shroud the heart of the Republic with fear once again. "My Emperor." A male voice says. I turn to the voice and see Darth Lancelot, in his battle armor and holding his helmet at his side.

"Hello, my friend. How are you doing?" I respond, giving him a ghost of a smile. I do not usually talk to people in this non-formal manner, but for Nev, I can make an exception.

"Quite well. I just wanted to inform you that Operation: RIPPER is ready to deploy upon your command, as you requested." Nev responds.

Operation: RIPPER is a 2-phase battle plan that will show the Republic that they can't protect themselves no matter where they are. The first phase of the plan is for the first 5 Adaptors ever produced to infiltrate the Republic Judiciary Central Detention Center and pose as Corusant Guards, and open the doors for the strike team of 4 Mavens to enter and cause a prison break for any who are willing to fight for me. Of course, several prisoners will be executed and I made sure that the selected Mavens are debriefed on their most important target: Barriss Offee.

She was my one link to inside knowledge on the happenings in the Jedi Order, and she screwed up. Admittedly, when I activated her, she did kill several Jedi when she bombed the Jedi Temple and set her former friend Ahsoka Tano up to be the terrorist. But then she got careless and tried to flee once she was uncovered, only to be cornered by Anakin Skywalker and having her hands crippled by Sander's impressive marksmanship so she was unable to defend herself using the lightsabers she stole from Ventress.

Ahsoka was cleared of all charges, but the ordeal utterly shattered her trust in the Jedi and now she is a freelance rebel who continues the fight against the CIS and my Empire, but on her terms. Now, Barriss rots away in the Detention Center since they believe that her very presence may have a dark impact on the Order's members and at a moment's notice, she could spill many secrets of my Empire to the Jedi, crippling my end plans. For who the Mavens will be, that is up to Nev since he is leading the attack from behind the scenes.

As for the 2nd phase…well, let's just say that it is going to be extremely _special_ for the Jedi.

"Excellent. Pick the Mavens you believe will be most capable for this mission and deploy them to Corusant."

"Very good. I shall begin recruitment." With that, Nev walks away from me. As his back is turned, I smile and my yellow eye glows with an even greater light.

Time for the Republic's world to be rocked again.

* * *

 **November 1** **st**

 **5:30 am Gaia Time**

 **Docking Bay of Imperial flag ship** _ **Deathshead**_

 **5,000 klicks from Corusant**

* * *

 **Nobody's POV:**

* * *

"Aten-hut!" Darth Lancelot shouts.

All at once, Dragonsfist, Daniel Cadmus, Cecilia Jackson and Karel Allusis immediately stand at attention in the center of Darth Lancelot's personal battle cruiser.

For the last few years, the Empire has been studying the Nubian that Darth Siren stole from Naboo, after she seduced the crew into walking off the edge of the people and fall to their deaths. From those studies, mass-production of the ships have occurred, colored black and given several plasma cannons remotely controlled by the pilots.

Lancelot stares into the faces of each super-soldier, watching for any sign of weakness from his troops. "You are here today upon executive order from the Emperor himself. Your target is the Republic Judiciary Central Detention Center. Your mission is to evacuate any prisoners willing to join the Empire. But your true mission is to kill a Jedi padawan by the name of Barriss Offee, along with any prisoners who stand against us."

"When do we start?" Daniel asks, smiling widely.

"Soon. The _Deathshead_ will not be setting down on the planet. Five hours ago, we deployed experimental troops to infiltrate Corusant, and they will send a patrol transport to pick you up. From there, you're on your own."

"What about extraction?" Karel asks, standing at attention more than anyone else.

"A Trireme will be sent to attack the planet in 10 and remain here for 5 minutes. If you're not onboard when it arrives…no one will come back. Am I understood?"

"Sir yes sir!" the Mavens shout back.

"Good. Lieutenant, open the hatch!"

The goblin pilot nods and the 4 Mavens make their way to the back of the ship, putting their helmets on and locking them in place. They make their way to the back of the ship, where the hatch is open and the ramp stretches out into space. However, since there is a gravity well surrounding the entrance, none of the air has left the ship.

"Come on. Let's kill those inbred bastards." Dragonsfist says, then steps out onto the ramp and activates his jetpack, propelling him through the harsh emptiness of space. Illinois, Tejas and Pennsylvania also step out into space and use the jetpacks to propel themselves through space.

They rocket through space, flying past dozens of Republic warships as they make their way to Corusant's surface. The journey lasts for several minutes until a Republic patrol transport flies up into space and turns sideways, allowing the doors to open up. The 4 Mavens immediately de-activate their jetpacks and let their momentum carry them into the transport.

Once they are all onto the transport, the hatch doors close behind them and the transport starts moving back to Corusant. "Welcome." One of the Adaptors says in a monotonous yet intimidating voice.

"You're the experimental troops?" Daniel asks, taking a seat in the corner of the transport.

"Yes, sir." Another Adaptor replies, dressed up a Corusant Guard like the rest of the troops. "We were sent to test our capability in combat and assist you on your mission. What are your orders?"

"Alright. Here's what we do." Pennsylvania says, speaking up after several moments of silence. "Tejas, you will remain on the transport to lay suppressing fire. This transport is the only way out of here. Agents Illinois, Massachusetts, you will be coming with me on this mission."

"I have a question." Illinois asks, stepping towards Karel. "Who named you leader?"

"Because I know how to lead people." Pennsylvania responds, not backing down form the challenge. "I have experience with leadership and I am giving you the opportunity to do what you enjoy. Unless you have a problem with that."

Illinois chuckles darkly at the response. "I have none. Alright, you win."

"Good." One of the disguised troops says, "Because we are exactly 30 klicks above Corusant's surface and closing in on the Republic Judiciary Central Detention Center."

"Very well." Dragonsfist, codenamed Massachusetts, says as he looks carefully at his tonfa-style short lightsabers. The rest of the Mavens go over their weapons one last time before the transport sets down on the hard surface.

One of the troops then stands up and opens the side hatch of the ship. Several crates are lying around and 20 clones are patrolling everywhere. One of the clones walks toward the lone troop, not holding any weapons. "Hold it. What are you doing here?"

"We are dropping off supplies." The infiltrator says.

The clone looks back at his comrades, who are starting to gather around at the scene. "We were not informed of your arrival."

"Our shipment was requested last minute."

"Trooper, what are you transporting?" The clone asks, his voice becoming slightly suspicious.

"…I'll be back." With that, the fake soldier turns towards the transport and walks back to the transport, getting onboard. Pennsylvania is about to question what he's up to, but becomes shocked when the trooper then grabs a blaster rifle off the rack. Illinois approves, bobbing his head up and down as he sees the action while he scrapes one of his 2 combat knives he keeps on his belt against his hard-white armor.

The clones outside start raising their blaster rifles and cannons, starting to suspect that something's going on. The fake trooper then whips around the corner and begins firing on the clones, running out and charging towards them. The clones start backing up, laying down fire as they continue walking back even though they start collapsing to the ground one by one. The troop just charges forward, no matter how many blaster shots he receives to the chest. After a few seconds, he reaches the clone formation and throws his blaster rifle aside before punching the one in the front. The clone's neck snaps under the pressure before he collapses to the ground. The clones decide to scatter in different directions while the rest of the Adaptors and the Mavens decide to join the fight and begin firing on the clones with even more blaster rifles.

Within seconds, only one clone remains, holding up a thermal detonator. "For the Republic!" He shouts, throwing it at the Adaptor. The detonator blows up in the Adaptor's, but it continues walking forward. The helmet cracks under the heat and falls to the ground, the skin melting off its face to reveal a bronze-colored skull shaped exactly like a human's, with glowing yellow lights for eyes.

It grips the clone's neck, fear radiating from him like the Mavens like never felt, then squeezes with all its might. The clone's neck cracks and the clone goes limp. "Well… that was easy." Illinois states, looking around at the carnage before throwing his blaster rifle aside.

"Believe me. The fun's about to come." Pennsylvania says, getting out his crossguard lightsaber. Tejas remembers her orders and runs back to the transport, lifting up her dark red plasma rifle, which is the same color as her armor. At her side is her single-edge shoto lightsaber, in case she needs to get up close and personal.

"Come, let us show these monsters who's boss." Massachusetts says, raising his own lightsaber and igniting the plain red blade, following Illinois's and Pennsylvania's lead. The Adaptors follow behind them, walking to the control panel on the left side of the large double doors, the symbol of the Corusant Guard on each side. One of the Adaptors rips the channel and rips a couple of the wires apart. The panel lets out an audible beep and the doors slide open. Five more clones run out of the doors to investigate why this entrance is opening, only to get cut down to size by Illinois's whirring Light Disk. "You. Stay with the ship. We don't want people to know of your existence." The Adaptor with its fleshy head blown off stands at attention then does as it is told.

The small group continue making their way into the facility, killing any Corusant Guard wielding yellow electrostaffs they encounter as they weave through the long grey corridors until they reach an elevator in the center of the room. The 4 Adaptors and 3 Mavens walk into the elevator and an Adaptor pushes a button on the side of the elevator. The doors close and the elevator starts going down, down, down. Soon, the elevator reaches the bottom and the doors slide open. Several Corusant Guards notice the door opening and move to intercept, but Pennsylvania uses the Force to push the clones off the edge, screaming as they fall to the bottom.

The hundreds of prisoners behind the glowing yellow walls of the cells that line the prison all run to the barriers to get a better look at what's going on. "I've got this." Massachusetts says, then uses the Force so the goblin's voice can carry throughout the entire facility. "Prisoners of the Republic, it is a pleasure to meet you. We are agents who were sent by Emperor Kadabra himself. He offers you all a chance to make yourselves greater than what you were and join the Sith Empire." Several of the prisoners start muttering with each other about what they just heard and the opportunity that awaits them. "For all those who wish to join the Empire, cover your mouths and noses and hold it for as long as you can." Now the prisoners start looking at each other, wondering if the goblin is telling the truth or not.

But some of the prisoners decide to risk it and they do as instructed. "Illinois, do it."

Daniel grins wickedly under his slick helmet, his eyes flashing for a second. "I thought you'd never ask." He then waves his hand and the emergency protocols in the cells activate. Tiny pieces of the wall slide open and white gas starts filling the cell. Those who are not holding their breath fall to the ground, wheezing slightly before going still. After a few seconds, the mist clears out and the cells become breathable again. "Congratulations. You are all hired." He says, also magnifying the voice via the Force then follows his Force instincts to one of the cells and senses Barriss Offee watching him from her cell, the only survivor of her block. "I know that some of you may question whether or not the Empire will have the strength to destroy the Jedi and the Republic that has thrown you in here to rot. Which is why I will show you something." He then uses the Force to de-activate the barrier keeping the fallen Jedi in her cell and a platform makes its way to her. Cautiously, she steps onto it and the transport takes her back towards the main elevator. The prisoners watch with rapt attention as the platform arrives at its destination and Barriss steps out warily, until Illinois wraps an arm around her neck.

"As you might have realized by now, this is Barriss Offee, a fallen Jedi who bombed the Temple. However, what you might not know is that she managed to also betray the Emperor. Let her be an example to any who would dare attempt to betray us." With that, Illinois activates his light disk and places it against Barriss's stomach. She screams in pain as the spinning weapon cuts through her flesh and blood starts spilling on the metal surface. But Daniel doesn't stop there; he lets go of his hostage with his right hand and plunges it into the young ex-Jedi's stomach. She screams even louder as Daniel rips out the vermiform appendix, followed by her entire large intestine and wraps the thick organ around her neck. She starts choking, grasping for any strand of life she has left, but it drains away with her blood after several seconds of agony.

The prisoners can only watch in open-mouthed horror at what they just saw and watch as Daniel lets go of the organ, allowing Barriss's corpse with a gaping hole in her stomach to fall to the ground, her own intestine still wrapped around her neck. "I was wondering when I could try that move." Daniel says, stretching his arms casually.

Pennsylvania just stares at him for several long seconds before he turns to the prisoners. Horror can be felt from most of the prisoners while some of the human bounty hunters, including the infamous Boba Fett, have respect radiating from them. "For the rest of you, step onto the platforms and join our war. You will be given freedom, citizenship and the chance at revenge against the Jedi. The Republic's destruction is the will of the Force, and we are its instrument."

The yellow barriers disappear and the platforms make their way to the prisoners, taking them to the Imperial members and Adaptors. One by one, the prisoners bow to Pennsylvania and proclaim their loyalty to him, while also making sure to keep a safe distance from the psychopath.

After the remaining 50 prisoners, all humans who are desperate for any chance to break out and bring about their vengeance on the Jedi, swear loyalty to Emperor Kadabra, they are herded into the elevator 10 at a time with Massachusetts leading the first group. The process of getting all of the prisoners, including the Adaptors and Mavens, out of the prison complex takes a lot longer than they were expecting. When Pennsylvania arrives at the top of the facility with his prisoners, they all arrive at a scene of chaos.

Republic gunships and patrol transports are flying around, trying to gun down the small yet formidable Assassin fighters while the Z-wings drop small bombs on the Republic Acclamators on the surface, severely damaging them since their deflector shields are offline. A lone Imperial Trireme-class light warship is floating in the air, its 72 plasma cannons, 3 rows of 12 on each side, raining plasma fire on both sides. The barrages of shots impact two more Republic Acclamators floating in mid-air. Jedi Starfighters start flying out of the Jedi Temple to join the fight.

"Come on. Let's go!" Tejas shouts from one of the 2 patrol transports, both hovering in the air. They are full to the brim with prisoners wearing prisoner garb with numbers printed on the back, 3 Adaptors and the rest of the Mavens. Deciding to risk it, the prisoners and Karel start running towards the patrol transports and split up, 5 prisoners getting on one while Karel and the other half board the other transport where Tejas is standing at attention.

"How did you get a 2nd transport?" Pennsylvania asks, wondering where they got it as the transports turn around and fly into the sky.

"Some members of the Corusant Guard decided to investigate why none of the clones were responding to their transmissions. We killed them and took their transport." One of the prisoners, a gruff-looking man without any hair and a scar running down the right side of his face.

The transports continue to rise in the air, their front-mounted twin missile launchers firing a set of missiles at a pair of ARC-170s, making them explode in balls of fire that crash to the ground. Tejas runs to the side of the ship and lifts up her plasma rifle before firing it on the cockpit of an ARC-170 they fly over. It takes 3 shots to punch through the glass of the cockpit and the resulting explosion coats the inside of the remaining cockpit red before it crashes into Corusant's lower levels, sending a slender spire crashing to the ground and crushing a few sentients. The prisoners whoop and make mocking sounds as the transports continue rising into the air. However, the Adaptor flying the ship closes the hatch on them since the Jedi Starfighters are starting to fire upon the rogue transports. The Z-wings fly back into the Trireme, and the few remaining Assassins form a rectangular formation around the transports. A yellow Jedi Starfighter lines up behind them, and fires several blaster shots. Those shots hit an Assassin bringing up the rear, making it explode. But the rest of the escort and the transports successfully land inside the Trireme with its hatch swinging wide open. While they fly down, the Republic fighters try and bomb the docking bay, only for the glowing blue layer of deflector shields to ripple from each laser shot that impacts. After a few seconds, the docking bay doors seal shut and the Trireme lurches forward and flies forward for several hundred yards, until its Beamspace drives are activated and flies through the portal.

The doors to the stolen patrol transports swing open and all of the prisoners step out, along with the Adaptors and Mavens. The prisoners start talking with each other about what their future holds while Darth Lancelot walks towards them. "I want to hear the status of your mission. What is the fate of Boba Fett and Barriss Offee?" He asks. Nev had personally heard from the Emperor before the mission started that he changed his mind; he wants to honor Jango's memory by ensuring that Boba is trained to be the best bounty hunter in the galaxy.

"Boba Fett has been successfully evacuated as per the Emperor's order, along with 49 more prisoners. They will need some…disciplining, but they have the potential of becoming fine soldiers. Psycho here murdered Barriss as an example to those who would try and defect." Massachusetts reports, glaring at Illinois as he mentions Barriss's murder.

Neville just chuckles in response. "Good job. How did the Adaptors perform in the field?"

"General, I speak for all of us when I say they are the best one-man slaughterhouses I've ever seen. Just one of them crushed an entire clone battalion and survived a thermal detonator to the face. However, you really need to have some clone personality and actions installed into their heads; their actions tipped the clones off that something was wrong and they resort to killing their enemies too fast. I have no problems with that, but it won't work if they are going to impersonate guards." Illinois says.

"I see. Good job to all of you. I will have some soldiers give our new recruits a tour of the ship before Operation: RIPPER begins its second phase. Dismissed!"

* * *

 _AN:_ Well, this was interesting to write.

Honestly, I don't know what a lot of the interior structure of the RJCDC so I made up a few details. And yes, I decided to have a RvB cameo for Temple to celebrate the new RvB episode. I don't know; I just think Temple's sadistic drive and passion for murder would make him a good fit for the Empire. And yes, he will appear again; not sure when yet, though.

Alright, here; my first attempt at Q&A for all your reviews that I can.

WhiteElfElder: I will have the Empire find the Star Forge Darth Malak and Revan found millennia before. But there will be no Katana Fleet in this story.

Rice2999/Maben00/davycrockett100/Ep: Thank you for the positive reviews, and I promise that there will be more to come.

Anyway, see you all next time when Operation: RIPPER begins its 2nd phase.


	23. Chapter 23: Siege of Devaron

**November 1st**

 **2000**

 **6:45 am Gaia Time**

 **Dueling Arena**

 **Temple of Eedit**

 **Devaron**

* * *

 **3** **rd** **Person POV:**

* * *

"Attack me again!"

Leia lifts up her purple lightsaber, managing to deflect the blue lightsaber of her padawan. Since the duo had been stationed at the Temple of Eedit to monitor the colonies for any Separatist activity weeks ago, Leia decided to the one thing she has had little time to do. That is to focus on training her padawan.

After she taught Sander how to meditate on the Force to try and attain the inner balance all Jedi strive for, they read several stories. Without a doubt, Sander's favorite stories are the struggles of Revan, a Jedi he came to respect, and a story they found on Corusant that greatly peaked Leia's attention. This story is of 2 warriors, who are machines the size of skyscrapers that have souls like any other sentient in the galaxy, who become the fiercest of enemies when civil war broke out on a planet farther than anyone has gone before, a planet known only as Cybertron. It also said that the war was so devastating that the planet itself became scarred and its occupants left for the stars, never to be seen again. So, while Sander went to get his lightsaber, Leia asked the local Jedi Librarian about where this story came from. Said Librarian told her that the story was added to the library by ancient Jedi Sages back when Yoda was a mere padawan. They all saw it unfold in a vision days after Yoda became a Master of the Order.

Once she fully understood all of that, she joined Sander in a circular training room with glass windows overlooking the jungle that surrounds the Jedi Temple. For the last few minutes, Sander and Leia practiced in the art of lightsaber combat. She taught him how to utilize Shii-Cho to its full capabilities and ultimately decided to throw in some techniques shown in the Ataru form as well. He absorbed all of this knowledge and applied into a fighting style that uses his speed to make quick, precise strikes while maintaining a dueling stance so as to not be knocked off-balance as easily. If Leia is being honest with herself, she's starting to believe that her padawan has more natural skill and honed combat instincts than most Jedi in the entire Order do.

Sander's face contorts to one of concentration as he swings his lightsaber to the sides and clashes with her weapon. While she's occupied, he swings in the opposite direction and charges forward, intent on landing a meaningful strike. However, Leia manages to block the strike. "There you go. You're getting the hang of this." She says, smiling at him. As she continues looking at him, she sees a smirk forming on his face. Before she can figure out what he's smirking about, he swings his right leg around and kicks the back of her leg. Leia instantly loses balance and starts to fall over, only for Sander to swing around and grab her arm, smiling down at her sweetly. How he still manages to look so care-free after spending many months in the Clone Wars is beyond her.

"I think I've already mastered it." He says sarcastically, pulling her back to her feet.

Leia can't help but smile at her padawan and his attitude, but her smile falters when she notices his hands starting to smolder and glow. "Um, Sander. You're smoldering again." He blinks then looks down at his fingers and jumps slightly before curling his fists into a ball. The fires go out, leaving small curls of steam to rise in the air slightly. Leia can't help but let out a sigh, a touch of frustration in her voice. No matter how much training she makes Sander endure, she just can't figure out how his powers work or what his limits are. Some of the other Jedi are starting to grow suspicious that Sander has powers that they don't, and it's stirring envy into some of the other padawans, such as Barriss Offee, who once dreamt of becoming a great Jedi Knight one day, but has started becoming increasingly distant in the last few weeks.

"Man, I need to get a grip on that." Sander mutters, looking down at his hands for a long moment with a deeply distant look.

"We'll figure it out one day, I promise. I think that is enough training for today." Leia says, standing up and looking at him kindly while de-activating her lightsaber.

"Oh, thank goodness." Sander says, wiping his light-colored hair out of his eyes and de-activating his own lightsaber. "I thought this would drive me nuts." He then gestures to the long, thin braid of hair with frustration.

"I know it's frustrating. I admit that I was happy when my braid was removed. But it is the sign of your status."

"Of course, mentor." Sander says, then notices a padawan who is older than Sander with tanner skin, curly brown hair and turquoise eyes. "Oh! Caleb's done with his training. I'm going to go hang out with him." He then runs out of the training center to meet with his best friend.

Leia can't help but smile as she walks out of the training center as well and watches the 2 padawans walking down the halls, talking with each other. Caleb's master, Depa Billaba, is also leaving the hall but he turns in the opposite direction and walks down the hall. Leia winces as she notices the right side of Depa's face, which is covered in old blisters and other fire-based scars and her right eye is slightly red.

In all honesty, Leia is amazed that Depa managed to survive the disaster involving the last Mahran refugees looking as in-tact as she does. It happened when she oversaw the evacuation of the Mahrans from their refuge on Ringo Vinda so they could be relocated to Corusant. Somehow, the Empire managed to track the refugee ship to a nearby asteroid belt and attacked them. Depa had reported to the Council that she was attacked by a new Sith wearing a silver skull mask over her face leading the notorious Imperial Bomb Squad who managed to overload the giant ship's engines. Had Depa not made the agonizing choice of taking an escape pod, she would have died with the last of the Mahran species. The Mahran Jedi known as Akar-Deshu died trying to defend Garel from the Heart of Death's occupation. This ordeal scarred her physically and mentally, and after floating helplessly in space for days, she spent much time resting in a bacta tank. When she eventually recovered, she felt the potential in the youngling known as Caleb Dume and decided to take him as her padawan.

"They seem to be having a good time." Anakin says, walking out of the shadows and watching the padawans as they walk down the hall. "It's good to see such energy from them. You don't see much of that these days, especially after Darth Kadabra took over most of the Outer Rim. Especially since Snips is gone." His face becomes saddened and angry as he remembers his former padawan. He was instructed by the Council to go to the Temple of Eedit and meditate to balance the anger in him after the incident at the Temple which resulted in Ahsoka's expulsion.

"I know. That's why I am going to protect him as much as I can until he's ready to stand against Kadabra." Leia says, and pulls out a cigarra.

Anakin raises an eyebrow at the small brown cylinder in her hand. "Isn't that stuff harmful to your body?"

"At this point, I really don't care." Leia responds, sticking it in her mouth and using the Force to ignite the opposite side. It smolders faintly and Leia sighs in relief before puffing out a ball of smoke. "Besides, I find that the relaxation it gives me helps me think."

"If you say so." Anakin responds then walks away from his old friend. Leia shrugs and puffs out another cloud of smoke before looking to the open sky where the stars can still be vaguely seen.

"Something's about to happen. But what is it?" She asks, feeling on edge more than usual even with her new retreat.

* * *

 **7:20 am Gaia Time**

 **Docking Bay of Acclamator-class transport**

 **Orbiting Devaron**

* * *

Admiral Yularen's anxiety on what is about to happen is only growing.

After the Outer Rim fell to Darth Kadabra's infamous Heart of Death, the Supreme Chancellor ordered all Republic forces to refrain from entering those territories and keep a hold in the Mid Rim. Each planet of significance to the Republic is being closely monitored by a Jedi, their fleets and all of their Admirals on standby. At this point, despite managing to do some damage to the Heart of Death over a certain period of time, the power at which they strike back makes the Republic's already petty victories look bleak, and the Republic has been forced onto the defensive until Kamino can produce them new soldiers and major planets like Corellia can produce the war material necessary to bring the war back to Kadabra's armies.

Honestly, Yularen is getting rather bored. It's been several weeks since the Republic had reclaimed the planet from the Separatists before they could severely damage the local Jedi Temple and made sure that no one would ever conquer the planet. With over 50 Republic Acclamators and Venators orbiting the planet, and almost 25 Jedi and another 1,000 clones and equipment down planetside to sense if anything is amiss, everyone is starting to feel rather safe on this planet.

That is, until one of his deck officers called his attention and told him that a Republic LAAT was rocketing towards them. Since it gave its clearance code, Yularen decided to let the stray gunship onboard but still check to see who's onboard. So, he leads 10 clones to the docking bay and waited for the gunship to set down.

Said ship releases its landing mechanisms and sets down on the docking bay surface, away from the rest of the fighter ships.

Yularen just stares at the gunship, the troops behind him raising their blaster rifles in preparation. The blast door slides open, and to all their shock, a downright beautiful woman steps out. Her silvery-blonde hair stretches down to her waist, with some of it covering her right eye. And while she is wearing a baggy shirt and jeans that are completely covered in dirt and mud, Yularen can't help but feel temptation to look her over, to note how…flawless she looks. Yularen berates himself for having these thoughts, mentally shaking his head, then walks towards the woman, who is looking around with a confused look. "Hello. I am Admiral Yularen of the Galactic Republic. Can you tell us who you are and why you are here in this system?"

"I'm Fleur. Fleur Delacour. I'm a refugee from Ringo Vinda. A few surviving clones and myself managed to find a gunship and scavenge enough supplies to survive the attack on the system. How could I ever repay you for your generosity?" The woman, Fleur, said with a thick accent similar to an accent a Twi'lek from Ryloth would have.

"I see." Yularen says, watching as 4 more clones step out of the gunship as well. For some reason, his head starts throbbing as he stares at Fleur but he manages to push it back. "Well, I would like to know how you managed to survive in space this long without food or water."

"That's not important." Fleur says sweetly, walking towards Yularen. He starts backing away from her, his head throbbing worse than ever. Behind the Admiral, the clone starts lowering their blaster rifles and staring at her with transfixed looks on their faces underneath their helmets.

"What are you doing?" Yularen asks, looking at his troops in shock. Then he looks back, his eyes wide with shock. "Wait a second... you're with the Empire!" Yularen then pulls out a blaster pistol.

"Now, now. No need for such hostility." Fleur responds, walking towards Yularen who has stopped moving back. She starts stroking his chest with a strange glint in her eyes. Yularen loses all self-control in that moment, succumbing to her sweet words and his eyes start glazing over. "I should thank you for picking me up. Now, I would like to ask you a favor."

"Your wish is my command, mistress." Yularen says in a monotonous voice, his eyes still glazed over.

Fleur's sweet smile smiles into a sinister one that stretches across her face, her eyes flashing yellow for a second. "Good. I think we should have some fun with your ship. Don't you think?"

"Of course, mistress. What do you have in mind?"

* * *

 **7:30 am Gaia Time**

 **2** **nd** **Floor**

 **Temple of Eedit**

* * *

Leia continues walking down the hallway of the Temple, past several clones under her command and other Jedi Knights as she makes her way to a separate classroom. Something's not right, and only via meditation will she learn what's going on. If there's one thing that Leia truly despises in life, it is not knowing something that might affect her life.

After she walks into the isolated classroom, she gets seated, putting her still-smoking cigarra on the ground before getting into a meditative position. She then closes her eyes and sinks into the Force's embrace. Suddenly, she finds herself in a vision, in the midst of a small battle at night. A man wearing an outfit similar to the Republic's, but with some differences, with black hair, is completely surrounded by 2 men in white armor similar to the clone trooper's armor, but of a design comparable to the rumored Phase-2 clone armor she saw an image of once, no coloring to differentiate them by legion whatsoever, and holding smaller blasters that somehow look more advanced. They are firing upon another man in the same armor, but wielding a blue lightsaber. The man leaps into the air, slashing 2 of the legs of a large grey walker in half. This walker is similar in design to the notorious Camels that the Heart of Death has used in ground battles, but less stable and not as well armed. The 6-legged Camels are infamous for taking absurd amounts of punishment and dishing them out with 2 plasma cannons on the sides, an additional cannon on each side of the head and an even larger cannon on the hump of the walker that can shoot more heavily concentrated plasma shots that can tear through entire buildings with ease. More than once have those walkers changed the course of a battle against the Empire.

The man, now revealed to be a Jedi, lands on the ground while the walker crashes to the ground while the man then runs to the other walker, slashing its legs down and making the other walker fall to the ground.

Meanwhile, an older man pushes a gravity lock away from a Hammerhead corvette, which starts to lift up into the air. Why is a Jedi supporting a robbery of such old-looking transports? As the Jedi disguised as a trooper runs to the Hammerhead, 3 troop transports of the like Leia have never seen before ride into the clearing and unload a mass of troops. As a cadet and a brown-haired woman who has the Force in her like the man start arguing about something, one of the transports explodes and sends its troops falling to the ground. From out of the smoke and fire comes a figure wearing dark blue armor with a dark gold stripe wrapping around his left arm and a symbol of a sword surrounded by dark blue inside of a gear, both dark gold, on both of the man's white shoulder plates. While the helmet looks like the helmet of the Phase 2 clone armor that is being produced to give the clones a fighting chance against Kadabra's forces, the rest of the armor is of a design she has never seen before. The most alarming thing about him is that he too has the Force, and the signature feels distinctly like her padawan, only with far more power and pain radiating from him than she has ever felt.

The fire then swirls around Sander's right hand before scattering into miniature balls of fire that strikes the rest of the troops, who scream in pain before being knocked backwards and are knocked unconscious. Leia watches all of this, eyes wide with shock at what just happened. Sander then looks in the direction of the other transports and uses the Force to smash them together before throwing them. Right at her.

Leia's eyes immediately snap open, and she starts panting. Did she see the future? If so, what happened to her padawan over the years? Just then, she nearly shouts in pain before gripping her head. The sense of death and chaos hits her dead on, but right now, it's just outside the Temple. The Jedi Knight immediately jumps to her feet and runs out of the classroom, leaving the still-smoldering cigarra on the ground.

Using the Force as a guide, she runs out of the Temple's main entrance and spots her padawan, standing next to Caleb and Anakin, as they look to the sky. Sander looks at her, eyes wide with shock. "Mentor! Look!" He then points towards the sky. She looks up and notices something that makes her take a step back in shock and a little fear. An Acclamator is starting to fly right towards the Temple and gaining speed as the transport starts glowing with an orange light.

"What are they doing?" Leia asks, shock still written on her face.

"I don't know, but I don't think the ship has any intention of stopping." Anakin says, then lifts his hands towards the Acclamator. Sander, Caleb, and Leia do the same thing, along with every other Jedi in the Temple who sense the danger.

The Acclamator immediately slows down before stopping in mid-air. Several long moments of silence pass before the escape pods simultaneously eject from the ship, raining down to the surface of the planet and crashing all along the Eedit Road, some pods, crashing through the thick vines hanging overhead.

"All troops, engage the enemy!" Anakin shouts to the clones outside the station. They start scrambling in all directions, taking up various positions along the main entrance, waiting for the battle.

The hatches blow open and several clones step out, along with Admiral Yularen and a woman in ragged clothes. The Dark Side radiates from her the way a Sith's presence does, but what confuses the Jedi is that the same darkness is coming from the clones and Admiral as well. "Kill them!" Yularen shouts as he begins firing his blaster pistol.

The clones start firing upon the Jedi and the clones of the 333rd Legion troops. They all fire back while Anakin stays where he is, deflecting blaster shots coming his way. The woman jumps high into the air, in the middle of the crowd, and pulls out a lightsaber hilt before activating it. A beam of blood red light shoots out both ends of the lightsaber.

She slashes in several directions, cutting down a clone, before Leia jumps into action and deflects the attack. "Oh. What do we have here?" The woman asks, looking at Leia intently.

The Jedi pushes the Sith off her and the 2 begin to duel. Fleur spins her lightsabers and tries to slash at Leia in all directions. But Leia manages to easily block each strike, used to such speeds from Sander, maintaining a close distance with her opponent before Leia times her stab for the right moment. Fleur shouts in pain as the purple blade shoots through the spinning blades and charges towards the Sith, grazing her right shin. The opposing clones and Yularen fall to the ground, gripping their heads as they do so.

Yularen looks up, just as Leia wraps an arm around Fleur's neck and holds the Sith tightly. "Where…are we?" He asks, sounding dazed.

"I don't know about you, Admiral, but I would like to know what happened." Anakin responds, looking at the dazed clones warily.

"We were boarded by a Sith woman. She managed to possess my crew and myself." Yularen says, looking at his general with an angry look on his face.

"I assume that this is who you're talking about?" Leia asks, showing the wounded Fleur.

"Yes, that is her." Yularen responds, looking at the captive with hate.

However, Fleur starts laughing madly in response. "What? You thought I was acting alone? I am simply the advance team."

"For what?" Sander asks, looking at her with deep suspicion.

"Why don't you look up to the sky and see?" Fleur asks, smirking widely in response. A sense of dread grips the Jedis' and clones' hearts as they slowly look to the sky. Even against the low-hanging mist and the rising sun, they watch as a massive space battle takes place. Miniature lights glimmer across the dark sky, and the sense of death radiating from the scene.

"We're under attack." Leia mutters, then looks at everyone in the clearing.

Anakin takes point almost immediately. "Men, Admiral. Get inside and defend the Temple as best as you can. Sander, Caleb, coordinate the defense."

"Uh…OK." Sander says, running inside with his best friend, followed by Yularen and 20 clones, before the doors shut behind them. From high above, the sounds of roaring engines can be heard and a large black starship similar in design to a Nubian comes flying down to the ground, along with a Trireme warship that opens its bottom hatches and a single, camouflage-colored Camel lands on the surface.

The Nubian lands on the surface, despite the barrage of constant laser fire, and the side door opens. A single woman with a fancy black chestplate under a set of long black robes and long white hair flowing down steps out, accompanied by a dozen men, women, and 2 goblins wearing sleek black armor and smooth silver masks shaped like human skulls covering their faces.

"Empress Kione." Leia says angrily, looking at the white-haired woman coldly. They had managed to weave a spy into the Heart of Death's ranks in the not-too-distant past. He revealed to the Jedi Council that Emperor Kadabra has a wife, who is also a Sith, and many designations for the various tools of the Imperial war machine. However, the clone spy only made it to Dantooine and stayed there for a day before being exposed by a Sith and imprisoned for interrogation on Mandalore, along with the rest of the Empire's more important prisoners.

"So, you know who I am." Kione responds, her tone cold as ice. "That means you know why I'm here." She then uses the Force to lift up her twin lightsabers and activates the black as night blades.

"That is why we will stop you." Anakin responds, pulling out his lightsaber and activating it before leaping into the air. The Sith Knights activate their lightsabers and start charging forward. The few clones that remain begin firing on the Sith Knights, but their blaster shots are quickly deflected back. As most of the clones scream as they fly backwards, the rest of them have their necks snapped in the opposite direction by a Sith Knight.

The Sith Knights start marching into the Temple as Anakin starts dueling with Darth Kione and Leia begins dueling with Darth Siren again after she pushes the Jedi off of her.

Using their combined strength with the Force, the Sith Knights force the front doors wide open, only to be met with blaster shots from their clones.

"No!" Leia shouts, only to lift her lightsaber and redirect her attention to the Sith she's fighting.

"You're pretty good, Jedi." Siren remarks, before the 2 resume their duel, slashing at each other wildly, Fleur's speed keeping her on par with Leia's mastery of close-range dueling. Anakin and Kione start dueling as well, Anakin slashing in all directions only for Kione to block each strike and leap around in different directions.

Meanwhile, the space battle is still raging in the atmosphere, with the fighters now engaging each other within the planet's atmosphere and several starting to circle the top level of the Temple of Eedit.

* * *

 **7:32 am Gaia Time**

 **Jedi Council High Chamber**

 **Temple of Eedit**

* * *

It took several minutes, but one of the clones under Sander's command manages to cut a particularly large square hole into one of the glass panes that line the Temple's top floor.

The group takes their blaster rifles, sticks them through the wide hole, and begin firing upon the Imperial fighters. The pilots have shown to be exceptionally skilled in piloting, giving the clone pilots a run for their money. Caleb, Depa Billaba and the long-faced Jedi by the name of Ki-Adi-Mundi just stare at the group firing at the fighters with a dumbfounded look. "Padawan Blanco." Mundi says, catching his attention and looking up from his post. Ki lifts up his right hand and Sander's blaster rifle flies into his hand. "We need you to help us defeat the Sith. I am not going to stand by and let you use something as uncivilized as a blaster."

Sander glares at Mundi, causing the Jedi Master's yellow eyes to widen, before he lifts his right hand. The blaster rifle flies back into his hand. "Stick it. You're not my real mentor." He says, turning around and starts to whistle a little as he continues to fire upon the Assassin fighters flying overhead.

Mundi glares at Sander, frustrated with the padawn's low opinion of the Jedi's traditions. Before he can berate him, Depa lays a hand on his shoulder. "Don't even try, Master Mundi. He's too set on doing what he thinks is right to sway him at this point."

"I know, Master Billaba. I need to set him straight, though. I fear that his disregard for our way of life will lead him astray one day." Ki says, still looking at the padawan as he continues firing into the air. He manages to get a lucky shot and hits the cockpit of an Assassin fighter, making it explode in a ball of fire.

The clones whoop in triumph for a second before they fall silent. The sounds of smashing can be heard outside the elevator that leads to the top floor, and the doors swing open. Four Sith Knights, 2 of which are the goblins, step out and throw the corpse of a dark-skinned Jedi Master to the ground, blood still oozing from the gaping wounds in her chest. "Tu-Anh!" Mundi shouts, horrified that a Jedi Master like her was killed by mere Sith Knights.

"She did give us a very hard time. But her own arrogance led to her death. A death you will share." One of the goblins says, lifting up an axe, which starts glowing with a red light.

The Jedi activate their lightsabers and charge at the Sith Knights. Mundi charges forward and slashes at one of the goblins to try and kill him. But the goblin proves surprisingly quick and leaps out of reach before charging at Mundi, rolling under the Jedi and planning to slash him in the back. Mundi leaps into the air, jumping over the attack, and uses every ounce of his speed to slash at the goblin. The Sith goblin whirls around, parrying the strike with relative ease.

Depa and Caleb attack the other 3 Sith Knights, but start to back themselves into a wall, slashing desperately to keep themselves. Sander stops firing his blaster rifle, sensing the battle going on behind him, and looks behind them. "Commander, hold off those Imperial pilots." Sander says, swinging his blaster rifle around and firing it at the goblin attacking Mundi. The goblin becomes so distracted by deflecting the blaster shot that he fails to stop Mundi from stabbing him in the chest. The Sith hisses in pain, blood starting to pool out from below his mask, before falling to the ground.

"What?" The other goblin asks, turning around to see the demise of his kin. "You slime!" He shouts. The Dark Side explodes from his body, knocking the Jedi off-balance. "I will tear the flesh from your bodies and roast it!" The goblin then charges towards Sander, who is still holding his smoking blaster rifle.

Sander tries to get off another shot, but when it's redirected, Sander throws it aside and tries to pull out his lightsaber, but the goblin stops him. He charges into Sander, knocking the young Jedi to the ground, then proceeds to beat him down. No matter how hard Sander tries to stop the punches, they keep on coming, battering his face badly. After several punches, the goblin lifts his axe to try and split Sander's head while the last Sith Knight uses the Dark Side to knock the Jedi and clones into a wall, dazing them considerably. "You think I'm going down that easy?" Sander asks, lifting his hands and gripping the goblin's arms.

The goblin shouts in pain and gets off Sander as his armored arms start smoking heavily. Sander stands up, his hands surrounded by fire that shifts between dark red and purple, the shadows from the flames making the bruises on his face look even more brutal. He then thrusts his hands to the goblin, gripping his masked face. The goblin shrieks in pain, the fire melting through the mask and his face and the Dark Side rippling around him dangerously. Eventually, the goblin's shouts die down and he falls backward, dead.

The last Sith Knight, an unusually tall woman, looks at Sander with complete shock. "Who are you?" She asks, not expecting a Jedi to kill like that. But the young Jedi uses the Force to pull his lightsaber into his hand, activating it and charges at the Sith Knight. She can barely keep up with the blinding speed Sander is slashing at her. But as Sander is about to stab her in the stomach, the woman manages to block it with her own black lightsaber, using the Force to push him out of her way. As he rolls away from her, his lightsaber falls out of his grip and rolls to the far wall. But Sander uses his momentum to roll back to his feet, charging at the Sith.

Desperately, she sends a Force push towards him, but he easily leaps into the air to avoid it, and as he approaches the ground, he swings his right arm, with his forearm being completely smothered in scorching purple flames, wide before crashing it into the side of the Sith's face. The impact leaves a deep dent on her mask, which also catches fire. The momentum from the punch additionally sends the Sith flying into the glass wall, smashing through it with ease. The woman can only scream in pain as she falls over the edge and to her death hundreds of feet below.

Sander lets out a sigh of relief, the flames dying out instantly as he looks at the Jedi and clones who are helping each other to their feet. "You know what, kid? You're good in a fight." Zep says, looking at him with a dazed look under his helmet. The impact of hitting the wall and mind suppression via the Force has left him, along with everyone else in the Council chamber, with gaps in their memory.

"Thank you. Now, let's… Woah." Sander says, noticing it behind them.

The Jedi and clones look behind them, and a sense of fear fills their hearts. The Camel walker, completely intact, is charging towards the Temple, and the plasma cannon on the hump of the tank is already glowing with a blue light. "Everyone, out now!" Yularen shouts, as he makes his way to the elevator.

However, the Camel's plasma cannon fully charges and fires at the top level.

* * *

 **7:40 am Gaia Time**

 **Eedit Road**

* * *

While Leia will not allow herself to get cocky at this point, she can't help but feel a smirk on the verge of breaking out on her face.

One of the many things that her master had taught her was endurance. If she pushes herself, she can engage in lightsaber duels for a few hours at a time. And that endurance has helped her gain an upper hand against Darth Siren, who is starting to slow down from exhaustion from exerting bursts of speed that would make most Jedi and Sith envious.

Anakin is still holding out against Kione, although she is using the Force to create sharp pillars of ice to try and impale Anakin, which is only keeping him at bay. After a second, Leia gets an idea after seeing another ice pillar fly. She slashes at Fleur, only for the strike to be stopped. Slowly, the duo start turning in such a way that Fleur's back is now facing the duel between Anakin and Kione. Anakin notices this change, and he starts smirking widely. "You will die now, Jedi." Kione says, summoning an ice spear and thrusting it at Anakin. He dodges to the side and lets the spear fly right at her fellow Sith.

Unfortunately, Siren senses this and breaks the stalemate to jump into the air, barely avoiding the spear that impales itself into the corpse of a clone. "I must admit, you are impressive." Siren says coldly, looking at them with a hateful look on her face. Before the brief pause can break, the wrist comm on Kione's wrist activates and the image of a man in an Imperial uniform appears.

"Empress, you must get back to the ship. We have lost 8 of our 10 ships and casualties are rising."

"You're not going anywhere." Anakin says angrily, pointing his lightsaber at their faces. Suddenly, a massive explosion can be heard and the 2 Jedi turn around to see a massive explosion go off, and several people start falling from the destroyed tower.

"Oh really? You can either save them or stop us. Your choice." Siren says sweetly, before running onto the Nubian with Kione following close behind which then takes off into the atmosphere, escorted by the last of the Imperial fighters.

"Blast it." Anakin says, then runs to the base of the tower and uses the Force along with Leia to slow the falling people. The last 3 Jedi hover in mid-air, along with the last 10 clones and Yularen, while the shards of the top level of the Temple crash to the ground, but Sander somehow falls between the gaps of the Force use, flailing around frantically and screaming at the top of his lungs.

"No!" Leia shouts, then uses the Force to run to her padawan and concentrates on the Force more than she ever has before. Sander finally starts slowing down before stopping, hovering mere inches above the ground. Anakin gently lowers the rest of the survivors of the attack to the ground and sets them down on the ground while Leia hugs her padawan, who is so shell-shocked he doesn't say a word.

Just as they start walking past the wreckage, the sounds of whirring engines and heavy stomping can be heard. "Here we go again." Caleb says, looking behind them. The adjoining tower to the Temple goes crashing to the ground, and the Camel emerges from the wreckage, its face directed at them.

As the side cannons start warming up, a battalion of 7 LAATs come flying to the surface, all of them firing 2 rockets at once. All of them make direct contact with the Camel tank. The explosions are too much for it to handle, since the tank starts groaning loudly, wobbling in all directions before collapsing to the ground and exploding in a ball of fire. The gunships set down on the ground, with the blast doors being forced open and clone troops looking around for any other signs of hostility. "Come, Generals. We can't stay for much longer." The clone says.

The group nods, before splitting up and going to various LAATs. Leia and Sander get onboard one, and don't even bother shutting the blast door as the gunship lifts into the air and flies away. The older Jedi nearly flinches when Sander's eyes, swelling immensely from his beatdown, widen in terror and he breaks himself from her grip, sliding away from the edge and trying his best to not look down at the vast forest stretching out in all directions.

"I can't believe it. We actually managed to defeat the Empire." One of the clones says, amazement in his voice.

"Did we?" Leia asks, bitterly. "We may have beaten them out of this system, we may have also proven that their Camels are tough but they aren't invincible. But we lost so much to earn that victory. We lost many military facilities, the Temple of Eedit is lost, too many Jedi and clones perished today, and if what I heard can be trusted, we outnumbered the Empire's armies 5 to 1."

"You missed something." Sander says, his voice barely above a whisper and terror still on his face. "They managed to do this much damage to an important Republic system, one of our most protected. Those civilians will see this as an act of incompetence, and the protests are only going to get worse."

The clones start to look at each other, grim expressions on their faces as they realize that the Jedi are correct. The foe they are facing is so diabolical that they can take their first out-right defeat at the hands of the Republic and turn it into something they can profit from.

Just what does it take to truly defeat someone like Darth Kadabra and his Heart of Death?

* * *

 _AN:_ Well, that's done now. Honestly, it wasn't my favorite chapter to write but it is important in more ways than one.

After a week, I decided that only this story thus far will have Q&A. Without further adu, it's Q&A time!

WhiteElfElder: True, I threw in a Terminator quote since I did come to that revelation when I finished the concept of the Adaptors. But I still think of them more as Replicants. That difference will become more important in later chapters.

MOR the Divine Being: Mass Shadow Generator. You know what, it will not appear in this story, but I will make some reference to it in the next few chapters.

Guest/davycrockett100/Maben00: Thank so much for your positive reviews. Honestly, it's kind of stressful to juggle this and Halo: The Bitter Wars chapters in 1 week with everything else going on in my life. However, I feel like I should mention that the weekly updates will not happen for too much longer.

Anyway, see you all next time when Darth Kadabra himself goes to Mandalore to resolve some issues, and meets some more opposing Sith in the process.


	24. Chapter 24: Escape from Sundari

**November 4th**

 **2000**

 **9:30 pm Gaia Time**

 **Emperor's Chamber**

 _ **Pathos One**_

 **Entering Mandalore's atmosphere**

* * *

 **Harrison Peverell's POV:**

* * *

Right now, it is taking every ounce of my self-discipline to not use the Force to choke everyone in the immediate vicinity to death.

For the most part, my Empire has done nothing but succeed in beating back the inbreds and the desperate Separatists are just as easy to deal with as ever. However, recent events have brought about the last thing I need to happen at this important juncture. The Empire's campaign is finally starting to grind to a halt. Insurrections are starting to become an ever-increasing pain in my ass and while Operation: RIPPER did result in exceptionally high deaths of clones and Jedi, the casualties to make it happen, especially during the last stage of the operation, are deeply concerning. Thank the Force Dap isn't among those casualties. The true loss of the strike operation that for first time in the entire war, the Galactic Republic managed to out-right route my armies. So I formulate the one question that will either make Operation: RIPPER worth the sacrifice or a worthless gesture.

"Senator Kryze, how are the Republic Senate taking these events?"

All around me, the members of my government are seated and reporting the Empire's progress across the galaxy. In holographic projection, of course. The red-haired mandalorian senator strokes her chin in thought. Sure, Mandalore is now officially under the Empire's rule, but she managed to be evacuated to Corusant and has become a Senator-in-exile of sorts. Thus, she is still my spy in the Republic. "Not well at all, my Emperor. The entire Senate have their tails tucked between their legs, as you Gaians like to phrase it, and I can tell that even the Chancellor is starting to get stressed. Riots are breaking out all over Corusant after your attack on the Republic's maximum-security prison. Nice touch, having a protected Jedi temple be destroyed, by the way. Distrust of the Jedi is starting to spread."

"How are the Adaptors progressing on their mission?" I ask. Yet another thing I attempted during Operation: RIPPER is to have the 4 intact Adaptors steal various clone birth numbers and weave themselves into the clone's ranks. While they give occasional reports to Kryze, their primary focus is to learn the clone's way of life, their slang, bonding, everything they need to blend into the clone's ranks and sabotage the Grand Army of the Republic wherever they can. Nala Se also told me once that the Adaptors in their current state have the potential to be sentient and that could theoretically allow them to adapt to any surroundings, giving me the ultimate spies.

"Masterfully. As far as I know, nobody has any idea that they are even there."

I clap my hands together, a deranged smile making its way onto my face. "Excellent, excellent. You're dismissed, Senator-in-exile." With that, Kryze's comm line immediately cuts off. I then turn to Vice Admiral Ginn Karath. The grey-haired mandalorian has proven his strategic prowess time and time again in the war. He received a promotion after he successfully conquered Ringo Vinda. What most people don't know is that it was the Imperial Army's pride, Alan Temple and George Biff, who killed dozens of clones and blew up the Republic's capital ship. It truly was a shame to learn that Biff was killed by Tiplee and Tiplar before they jumped into hyperspace and escaped their deaths. "Vice Admiral, how goes your fight against the Chiss Ascendancy?"

The red eyes of the Vice Admiral fall to the ground, a grim look on his face. As the war was ramping up months ago, my Empire managed to make contact with a scouting party of blue-skinned humanoids who come from a small empire run by a government called the Chiss Ascendancy. When I appeared via holographic projection to meet the Aristocra, I was…enlightened, to say the least. I made them an offer to join my empire and they tell me the location of the remains of the Star Forge. I mean, they are a secretive government that rules over a piece of the Unknown Regions. However, they rejected the offer and tried to offer the location of an ancient weapon called the Mass Shadow Generator instead.

I had read stories about the Mass Shadow Generator, and a weapon of mass destruction like that would be of great benefit to me and most Sith would sell an arm and a leg to find it. But in all honesty, it is too unpredictable for my taste. Not to mention the inability to push it into a sector of the galaxy makes it worthless. The energy radiating from it would obliterate any ship that gets too close and the only downside of Beamspace is that only the ship that has the drives installed into it can enter the space.

Unfortunately, as the negotiations continued, my escorts were attacked by Chiss mercenaries and after using the Force on the Chiss ambassadors, I realized a harsh truth. The Chiss are a prideful species, one who only honors respect and strength. I greatly admire that about them, except for the fact they are nearly arrogant with their actions, always assured that they think of every scenario and have taken every step possible to be prepared for anything thrown at them. To be fair, they do take their time analyzing their enemies' habits and cultures so they can truly understand who they are up against, and what said enemies are capable of as a result. And now, because of the harsh methods the Vice Admiral took to wiping out the mercenaries, the Aristocra have become afraid of the threat to their way of life we possess and they want to put us in our place. So now, the Sith Empire has to deal with the Separatist Navy, the Grand Army of the Republic and the fledgling Chiss Defense Fleet.

"It's going well, Emperor. We managed to push the Chiss species off of 3 different systems, but lost 3 Drakkars, 5 Triremes and their entire crews in the process. Our stealth ships and probes have confirmed that they are pulling their entire fleet back to their home-world to defend it."

I smile at the report. "Very good. Continue with the goals I laid out for you. Once the new recruits and ships are added to the fleet, begin massacring the Mid Rim. I will be taking care of personal business later. Remember, our enemy's destruction is the will of the Force and we are its instrument."

"Victory or death." The rest of the Council chants back then the comms cut off, leaving me alone again. I lean into my golden seat, sinking into my thoughts on recent events. Including why I am going to Mandalore. But the Dark Side still wants me to go out of my way to come to this planet, especially Sundari.

Yet another change I made is how the prison system works. It has become far too costly to have dozens of Imperial soldiers guard isolated cells across the galaxy, so I conceived the idea of a far more effective prison that Supreme Admiral Vizsla practically jumped on. As of a month ago, all Imperial prisons around the galaxy were shut down and every prisoner ever captured or tortured were sent to the former Mandalorian capital of Sundari, never to come out again. The dome is completely sealed so without a clearance code, no one can leave the planet. Motion sensors line the walls to make sure no one is with them, and top it off with 100 Imperial soldiers surround the city.

As I wonder why the Force wants me to go to the prison, the _Pathos One_ starts shaking violently before beginning to fall downward. I pull myself out of my thoughts and let out a growl of frustration. Whoever is flying this ship is about to get into some serious shit. I get up and walk out of the makeshift throne room, the various rooms and towards the bridge, gripping the railings as I continue. Once I reach the bridge, I use the Force to open the door and prepare to give the pilot a piece of my mind.

But what I find on the other side completely shocks me. The pilot is completely unconscious, sparks arching across his control panel and the smell of smoke fills the air. "What's going on?" I demand harshly.

"Let me enlighten you, **Emperor**." A familiar female voice says, directing my attention to a holographic projection of one of the last people I expected to see on the screen above my head. Hailey Potter has certainly grown up to be a truly graceful woman despite being a notorious rebel zealot. Her reddish-black hair now falls past her shoulders, and her brown eyes hidden behind the same glasses father wore are now burning with an unbridled hatred. "Your ship is now under control of the soldiers of the Order of the Phoenix. We are going to avenge all those you have killed in your merciless quest for power." Before I can ask how she thinks her goal will be attained, I look straight ahead and my eye widens in shock. _Pathos One_ is approaching the domed city of Sundari at maximum speed, surrounded by 6 2-story barracks and tiny black dots start running out of them. "Your arrogance has become your downfall. After all these years, I have come to believe in irony. What better example of irony is there, seeing you perish at the hands of the same inhumane prison you constructed? Goodbye, **big brother**." The transmission then cuts off.

I center my focus on the ever-approaching dome of Sundari, then try using the Force to level the Nubian out. But the ship continues diving downward, crashing through the dome. Golden light pools into the prison city before the emergency shutters close behind me, my ship continues flies lower and lower to the dark and ruined surface. I concentrate on the Force even harder and succeed in regaining control. I telepathically pull the wheel back and the ship starts to level out. However, the Force has other ideas in mind. As the ship finishes leveling out, it continues to approach the Sundari Hospital. I steer the ship away from the main building, but the right thruster on the back side impacts the building on the right of the main building, leaving a gash in the metal. Even from the bridge, I can feel the ship shudder again before spiraling in all directions and entering into a nosedive again, heading straight for the ground. "…Hijo de puta." I mutter, staring straight ahead and watch as the ship cleaves through a shipping dock before crashing all the way to the ground. The second I hit the ground, the world goes black.

I have no idea how long I am out of it, but the next thing I know, the world begins swirling back into focus, extreme heat making my eye water slightly. Letting out a slight moan of pain, I clench my fists and sit up. The _Pathos One_ is lying directly behind me, its 4 thrusters pointing in all directions as it leans against a wall and burns brightly against the dark streets of Sundari, old corpses that look like something tore into them. I push myself onto my feet and use the Force to truly get a feel for my surroundings. Right now, I am at the bottom level of the city, hundreds of yards from the nearest entry. After a few seconds, I feel a sudden stabbing pain in my chest. I look down and notice a piece of large metal from the bridge sticking out of my chest. Any normal man would be already dead from the amount of blood that has oozed out, but I am no ordinary man or Sith. Gripping the tip of the sharp metal tightly, I yank it out before throwing it to the side. Once I place my normal hand over the wound to try and limit the bleeding, I am knocked back to the ground and hear a series of cackles from above me. I stare upwards and see a Rodian wearing ragged clothes with a look of absolute insanity in his eyes.

"If it isn't Emperor Kadabra. I would like to repay you for the destruction you caused my people. My family is dead because of you!" The Rodian shouts. I reach down my side, but feel a sense of dread when I grip only air. Someone had the audacity to steal my lightsaber. With as much of a smug look as a Rodian can make, he pulls out a blaster pistol and points it at my face. I should have known that a mandalorian city, even a pacifist one, would have weapons hidden in plain sight. I lift up my Demon's Hand then snap my fingers. The Dark Side immediately bends to my will, snapping the Rodian's neck in the opposite neck and killing the pathetic creature. His corpse falls background and crashes to the ground. Satisfied, I shakily get to my feet and walk the corpse. After delicately lifting my blood-stained hand off the wound that has stopped bleeding, I pull the blaster pistol out of the corpse's limp fingers. It is far less powerful than any plasma-based weapon the Heart of Death has procured, but it will have to do. I stand up and start walking towards the entrance, a blue cloak with bronze highlights billowing behind me.

Seconds later, 3 humans jump out from cover. All of them are clones, who have been stripped of their armor, their shirts are gone so their skeletal frames and scars from extensive torture can be seen by all. Some interrogation sessions range from whipping to their birth numbers being carved into their very flesh. "We want our food!" One of the clones says, looking at me with a deranged look in his eyes.

I lift up my deformed hand and point it at the clones. "You want food? It's back there." I can practically feel the Dark Side penetrating what's left of their mangled minds. The clones notice the Rodian corpse on the ground, then whoop in triumph before running towards it. I stand there for a few seconds to make sure it works, watching as the clones tear through the Rodian's corpse to get to his flesh, then proceed to start eating his bloody muscles.

Since this is obviously the level where all of the insane cannibals live, I decide to use the Force to leap into the air, landing on the top of what was once Peace Park. I swear, Satine Kryze's New Mandalorians are reminding me more and more of hippies who are high on weed. If drugs weren't illegal without exception, I know several pilots who would start smoking that shit to high heaven. Once my feet are solidly under me, I stretch out my senses once more. I can tell that the true rulers of this desolate prison are anger, fear and death, all of which are radiating from every corner of this city. Give or take a few months, and this place will start feeling like Auschwitz.

Before I can formulate a plan on finding my lightsaber and escaping, the Force screams in warning to me. I lift my Demon's Hand, gripping the jagged shiv the green-skinned Neimoidan. Ignoring the feeling of the metal digging into my palm, I slam my head into the Neimoidan's. He shouts in pain, reeling back from the blow and glares at me with his synthetic eyes, lights flipping from red to blue as he stares at me. "Wait a second. You're Mar Tuuk, aren't you?" I ask, recognizing him. He was a well-respected commander of the Confederacy, until he made the mistake of testing his luck and attacking Dantooine with a measly 10 Munificent-class cruisers accompanied with a Providence cruiser to analyze my Empire's strength. Needless to say, the attack fleet was torn to shreds by a mere 5 Drakkars simultaneously firing tungsten-coated HIROSHIMA nuclear rounds while the commander and his command ship were captured. According to his report, he had a rather light interrogation before he revealed the location of all droid manufacturing plants on Geonosis. Once that information was put on record, he was immediately sent to this prison.

"You are correct. I must say, you are just as cruel as the media…" Mar Tuuk starts saying, but doesn't get to finish his sentence since I lift up my blaster pistol and fire it. The thin blue laser arches through the air before striking the green Neimoidan in the chest and I can feel his life immediately draining away.

"Yes. But unlike you, I don't have time to talk." I state offhandedly then notice another 6 prisoners, all of them male Devaronians who tried to assault some Imperial troops during the attack at the Temple of Eedit. I lift my Force-enhanced hand, then after sealing the wounds all across it, bend the Devaronians' minds to my will. The warriors are helpless to resist, as they start brawling with each other ferociously, tearing each other's eyes and flesh out savagely.

But I don't watch the spectacle, as I turn back towards one of the entrances out of the city then after throwing the blaster pistol aside, lift both my hands up simultaneously. After a few seconds, I feel my feet lifting off the ground a few inches then I begin floating to my destination, hundreds of feet above the chaotic city the way Magneto would.

The whole flight takes about a minute, and I can already tell that I am going to have a hard time leaving my own prison. A dozen prisoners are trying to bust out of the cell, lead by a man with short auburn hair with his back turned to them. The real eye catcher is that half of the prisoner's numbers are clones who still look to be in decent health while the other half are the captured members of the New Mandalorian government, Satine Kryze among them.

As the auburn-haired man is about to do something to the circular doorway, he freezes before turning around. The man's eyes are a sharp light blue, face cleanly shaven and hardened like he has fought in war. I can't help but fight the smirk from forming on my face as I land feet-first on the long platform that overlooks the entire city.

"Emperor Kadabra. What are you doing here?" Kryze asks coldly, seeing me in person for the first time in a long time.

The clones raise their fists, expecting a fight at any time. "Like I would tell you." My voice drifts off when my eyes lie on a certain lightsaber clipped to the auburn-haired man's belt. I let out a near predatory growl as I glare at the group, my eye flashing golden. "You stole my lightsaber. I think I will just kill you all now." But before I can attack the man, Kryze steps in between us and pulls out a de-activator pistol from her rich robes. In a split second, she fires.

For a mandalorian pacifist, she knows how to use a blaster surprisingly well, but it's for naught since I simply use the Force to stop the bolt and have it completely turn around and fly back to her, all within a period of 3 seconds. The laser strikes Kryze's chest and she falls onto her back. "No!" The man says, running to her and holding her close.

While they have their moment, I use the Force to pull my lightsaber off his belt and into my hands. I then have a closer look at the man, reaching out and feeling his presence in the Force. It feels…very familiar. But before I can figure out who he really is, the circular door slides open and 2 Zabraks are standing on the other side. The Zabrak on my right is Savage Opress, a yellow Zabrak with black tattoos and even more muscle than Agent California, thick armor covering his chest and holding a staffsaber in hand while the other Zabrak makes my eyes widen in shock. This Zabrak is red with black tattoos all over his body, standing taller than me thanks to his cybernetic legs and his yellow eyes glowing like mine. I had heard rumors that Obi-Wan had encountered a Sith lord on Naboo years ago by the name of Darth Maul, but to actually see him in the flesh is something else. Behind them, corpses of a dozen Imperial Army soldiers are lying strewn about and a spare Imperial Nubian is already open and waiting, with a strange-looking fighter also on the docking bay right next to it with its ramp closed.

"Welcome, Darth Maul, Savage Opress, to Sundari. I don't believe we have ever met before." I state casually, trying to act formal in the face of possible defeat.

The Zabraks just stare at me, not caring as the mandalorian politicians, clones and their leader try and sneak behind the 2 Dark-Side users and try to escape. "I am no longer a Darth, Emperor Kadabra. For I am no longer an ally of either side of the Sith."

I raise an eyebrow at the correction, not knowing he renounced the title but not surprised at all. "I see. Why have you come here to Sundari of all places?"

"Because you have something I want. You are the commander of an army that rules almost every corner of the Outer Rim. All I require is your forces and we will have our revenge against those who have wronged me. I want to kill Obi-Wan Kenobi."

I only look back at him, a skeptical look on my face? Does he really think I am going to give up everything to a delusional ex-Sith without a fight? "An impressive speech, Maul. But I can tell you that I have no idea where Jedi Kenobi is. Or that I will never give up my Empire without your own show of strength."

"You think we came alone, do you?" Maul asks, his eyes glowing even brighter than ever for a second. Before I can ask what he means exactly, I look to the sky and notice the Imperial Nubian soaring into the air. It is currently trying to fend off a dozen Nimbus-class V-wing Starfighters with 2 Gonzati cruisers hanging in the air, all of them black with gold highlights and a familiar gold symbol printed on the side.

"You managed to coerce the Black Sun to your side." I state simply, somewhat in awe. Really, I am impressed that they managed to persuade a notorious crime syndicate so effective that even supply lines on my fleet were robbed to fight for him.

"They weren't easy. We needed to show them that we are stronger than their leaders could ever be. Which is what I intend to do with your Empire." Savage responds, activating his staffsaber and charging towards me. I dodge to the side and when he slashes at me, I block the attack with my now-activated lightsaber. Despite my excellent timing, my feet still slide back considerably from the blow. I've heard rumors that Savage is like a beast who throws brute strength around to show who's boss. Looks like those rumors are true.

"Get off of me, Savage." I growl, then use the Dark Side to Savage's left leg. He is immensely tough but the Force is stronger, since the highly concentrated Force push knocks that particular leg into an uncomfortable place. As Savage took the few seconds needed to correct his stance, I use the Force to slash to the side at blinding speeds, leaving a deep gash in his left arm, which starts oozing out…green mist? The yellow Zabrak lets out a shout of pain, backing up a few feet before letting out a battle cry and charging towards me again, slashing his staffsaber with the intent of cutting me in half. I roll to the side, effectively dodging the slash, then immediately slash upward as he passes by after I regain a semi-decent stance. The slash leaves an even larger gash on his back, making Savage fall to his knees. Smirking, I don't even give him a second before lifting my lightsaber overhead and slashing downward. In one fell swoop, I cut off Savage Opress's head.

The Dark Side recoils violently from his death, before I am knocked aside by Maul, a horrified look on his face. He stares at his fallen brother's corpse as the same green light starts glowing around Savage's body and almost immediately starts dissipating, his horns growing shorter and his battle armor dissipating as a result, leaving a much less muscular bare chest. I watch, slightly tired, as Maul grips Savage's hand, a grief-stricken look on Maul's face. "Brother. I will avenge your death."

Maul then looks up at me, and the outright hatred that is written on every inch of his face that makes even me a little worried. However, before either of us can engage in a lightsaber duel, a series of loud screaming can be heard from the city and 3 prisoners start running towards us. Maul growls then throws his lightsaber. The spinning blade cuts the heads off all 3 prisoners whose bodies topple forward.

Slowly, I back up towards the entrance, clashing blades with Maul in all directions as the prisoners of all races and genders start climbing up the walls to try and reach freedom. Once I parry another slash from Maul, I use the Force to knock him off-balance then leap backwards and safely out of the doorway as Maul is running right at me with an army of prisoners behind him.

"You shall not pass!" I shout then use the Dark Side to shut the door. Maul senses the danger and lunges forward, missing the door by several seconds. A human clone with blood dripping down his face tries to do the same thing, only to get sliced in half by the door as it seals shut. I ignore his screams of pain of trying to push what's left of his organs back inside him and dies of oxygen deprivation, and the shouts of prisoners as they bang on the doors as I continue my relentless duel with the ex-Sith, both of us using the Force to create refresh-able air bubbles around our heads to survive Mandalore's thin atmosphere.

We clash our lightsabers together once more before Maul decides to stop toying around. He attacks me with such blinding speeds that even I am having a hard time keeping track of. After another series of rapid slashes, Maul then tries stabbing me in the stomach. I dodge to the side but he anticipates the dodge and kicks me in the stomach.

I go flying several feet into the air before falling off the edge of the ledge. Luckily, I spin mid-air and do a super-hero landing on the ground below. Force Almighty, are my knees supposed to hurt as much as they do right now? Maul lands to my right, unfazed by the impact because of his cybernetic legs.

Before we can continue our little, we are interrupted for the umpteenth time. We both hear the sounds of an approaching ship look to the sky to see a grey ship with 3 wings and a bridge directly in the middle of the ship. The Dark Side radiates from the ship, a powerful presence like myself. "It can't be." Maul whispers, shock written on his face. The ship fires green lasers to the level above and makes Maul's transport explode in a ball of fire and crashes to the ground directly below. The transport then turns around in mid-air and sets down on the ground. The hatch opens up and a man with crinkled, pale skin with his face hooded by purple robes. "Master." Maul says, bowing to the purple-robed man. All the while, I stand off to the side in shock. How arrogant is Chancellor Palpatine or Darth Sidious that he can just waltz out of Corusant unnoticed to come here?

"Darth Maul. I am most impressed that you have managed to survive your injuries all this time." Sidious says, looking down at the bowing Zabrak.

"I only survived through your training, Master. I have built all this in the hopes of returning to your service." Maul says, still looking down to the ground. Yup, Maul is definitely brown-nosing right now so he can stab Sidious in the back later.

Palpatine hums slightly then raises his head so he notices me. A ghost of a smile flits across the other Sith lord's face. "How unfortunate that you are attempting to deceive me." Sidious says, still looking at me with a now-wary look.

"Master?" Maul asks, looking up at him with an expression that feigns confusion.

"You have grown strong since you left my teachings. You both have become…rivals." Sidious says, then turns around and sends a monster Force push. Maul goes flying in the opposite direction while I send my own Force push to Sidious. The 2 pushes cancel each other out and the air settles down again, without me moving an inch. "Very good. Let's see how you fight." Palpatine then flicks 2 lightsaber hilts into his hands before activating the 2 red blades. He holds them off to the side, laughing slightly before charging to me, scraping the blades along the sandy ground to try and weaken my sight.

I use the Force to see the attack and block both blades that would have slashed both my arms off. Sidious growls in frustration before leaping into the air and slashing his blades in all directions. I break the blocking and try to slash at Sidious, but he blocks it back before we break again and start dancing around, parrying, attacking, blocking. At this point, thoughts no longer matter so I rely on the Force to fuel my motions, even if I am more often than not on the defensive. While I admit that Maul is extremely, he is nothing compared to Sidious. Maul leaps back into the air and tries to cut his former master in half. Sidious, however, is already aware of the attack and breaks our clashed blades to block Maul's attack with one blade while Sidious stabs Maul's right leg on the side, cutting clean through it and impaling the other leg. The beaten Zabrak falls to the ground, staring up at Sidious with a look of defiance. "So much anger. What a waste." Sidious muses, before laughing and placing a hand on Maul's face. Sidious then uses the Force to shut down Maul's mind, effectively knocking him out.

As Sidious stands up, he looks at me then sends a Force wave rocketing on me yet again. I try sending my own Force push again, but this time, my grip on my lightsaber is looser so it flies out of my hand and crashes to the ground several feet away. The false Sith lord laughs at his accomplishment, thinking he has won, then jumps into the air spinning before closing the gap, and raising both lightsabers before slashing downward. Thinking quickly, I send my own Force push upward. Sidious obviously didn't expect the attack and as a result, both his lightsabers fly out of his hand and rocket into the air. Not wasting a second, I use my good arm to punch Palpatine in the face. The wrinkled bastard recoils from the blow, holding his nose as blood starts pooling down his face. "Impressive." Sidious says, still watching me warily. "Most impressive. You are well-trained in the Dark Side. Give in to your anger and see how far you want to go." He then lifts one hand and arches upon arches of blue Sith lightning start surging from his hand.

I lift my Demon's Hand up and concentrate on my own anger. I think of Hailey Potter, the rebels who would dare stand against me and my new order, that disgusting bug Dap killed years ago, Rita Skeeter. My own wave of black Sith lightning arches outward, directly colliding with Sidious' lightning. The 2 Force techniques are at a perfect stalemate, neither one moving towards anyone and a perfect circle of dark blue light hovers in mid-air, like a black hole. The sands in-between us start circling the sphere and begin smoldering against the heat, the grains fusing together and fusing together to form fine yet sharp sheets of glass. I never let up on my attack for a millisecond, just stare into the yellow eyes of Chancellor Palpatine. The man I now hate for he believes that only he can bring resurrection to the Sith Order. After a few seconds, his eyes widen in horror and he starts wheezing louder and louder until our stalemate is broken. The blue lightning falters for a second and my black lightning immediately takes advantage of the weakness, arching over the lightning and slamming into Sidious's chest.

He shouts in pain, rocketing into the air for a few seconds before crashing to the ground. I, however, use the Force to hold the sheets of glass that were formed in the air. "This is the end, Darth Sidious." I state then thrust my Demon's Hand forward. The shards of glass instantly start flying towards Sidious at break-neck speeds. But the false Sith lord also thinks quickly on his feet, using the Force to pull the twin lightsabers that are now sticking out of the sand and after activating them, spinning the blades in all directions. While the glass shards are dissipated, I used the Force to pull my own lightsaber to me. As the blade flies to me, I will the blade to extend itself to becoming the light scythe. The metal sheets finish sliding into place and the red lightsaber light reaches the tip as I grab the weapon.

Milliseconds later, Sidious spins in the air, his lightsabers spinning in a circle of death before crashing his weapons to me. Unfortunately for the bastard, I slash the light scythe upward with both hands. It made my day to see Palpatine's horrified look when the light scythe cleaves through one of his lightsabers with ease. He then tries to slash at my back but I spin the light scythe backwards, clashing our blades again. I let loose a battle cry, unleashing a Force push in all directions that sends Palpatine flying back towards the still-unconscious Maul. "What are you?" Palpatine asks, his voice laced with fear for the first time I have heard it. Before I can respond, massive explosions go on overhead and dozens of Imperial warships are floating in space, their fighters decimating the Black Sun soldiers. Sidious grits his teeth, frustration radiating from him, before he grabs the unconscious Zabrak and lifting him into the air before jumping up onto the platform above.

I am not going to sit around and let the idiot leave this planet alive. Thus, I also leap into the air while de-activating my light scythe and clipping it onto my belt. I land on my feet before noticing Palpatine boarding his personal transport. Acting quickly, I pull a plasma rifle from a fallen Imperial Army soldier into my hands and twist the nob on the side to rapid-fire mode. This feature is relatively new to the plasma rifles under construction. "You're the Emperor! You're 'A' Number-1!" I start chanting before firing bolt after bolt of plasma shots into the transport, scarring the inside and hitting Palpatine in the back of his left shoulder.

But the Sith lord ignores the pain, getting into the cockpit and closing the hatch before flying into the atmosphere. I fall to my knees, panting heavily from the heavy exercise as a single Arrow transport flies to the platform, opening up and allowing several Imperial Army troops to run out and begin gently pulling me onboard the transport. As I get myself settled into one of the seats, the hatch closes and the transport lifts off the ground. I let out a sigh of relief, canceling the bubble around my head. The air was starting to get fairly stale, anyway.

The trip passes by in absolute silence, the Arrow flying higher and higher into the sky until it reaches the _Black Phoenix_ , which was brought to this system for refueling and resupplying. Once the ship enters the docking bay, it sets down on the ground and the hatch opens up. I stand up and walk out of the transport with the 2 troops as escort, arms at my sides and my dirty robes hanging limply at my side.

We walk out of the transport and Supreme Admiral Vizsla is standing there, a stone-cold expression on his face. "My Emperor."

"Report." I respond sharply, feeling more drained than I have in years.

"We lost over 25 men to the attack by the rogue Sith and the Black Sun. We managed to destroy their fighters and route their transports. We will not hear from them for a long time."

I nod curtly, satisfied with the response. "Good. Anything else to note?" I ask. Hey, after all the shit I have been through today, I need some more actual good news.

Vizsla has a small smile flits across his face. "Yes, actually. We managed to secure a Chiss who had defected from the Chiss Ascendancy a while ago. He wishes to meet with you personally."

I nod in response, a smile forming on my own face. "Alright then. Set this ship's course for Mandalore City and give me time to clean up. I will meet with this Chiss later."

Vizsla nods and leaves for the bridge of the ship to give the orders. This recent turn of events will most certainly work to my favor. But after today's events, my instincts are telling me that something is not right. Let's just hope I'm wrong.

* * *

 _AN:_ This chapter was actually kind of fun to write. Sidious is now afraid of Kadabra and the Chiss Ascendancy are now involved in the Clone Wars to an extent.

On to the brief Q&A for this week:

davycrockett100: Thank you for the positive remark.

Snowflowx/WhiteElfElder: Yes, the Empire's progress has slowed down considerably, but it will pick up a little. And yes, Hailey Potter will have more appearances in this story. But please keep in mind that she, along with the rest of the Order of the Phoenix, will not appear for another few chapters. Those later chapters will be fun to write.

Anyway, see you all next time when a truth is revealed and the largest battle Kadabra's Sith Empire has fought yet will break out.


	25. Chapter 25: The Purge

**November 5** **th**

 **2000**

 **5:30 am Gaia Time**

 **Emperor's Personal Quarters**

 **Imperial Palace, Top Floor**

 **Mandalore City**

 **Mandalore**

* * *

 **Harrison Peverell's POV:**

* * *

I let out a long sigh of relaxation as I stand in the middle of the shower, warm water trickling down my body.

I had a long and tiring day yesterday, so when the _Black Phoenix_ docked at New Mandalore to recharge, I decided to push my meeting with the Chiss defector to this morning. After a much-needed rest, I decided to get myself organized for the day earlier than I originally thought. Although I am questioning it since the Force is telling me that I am going to be having a very long week ahead of me.

After I step out of the refreshing shower and put on a simple black shirt, pants under regal black robes that flow down to my lower legs, with my lightsaber hidden inside the robes, and military boots of the same color. Hey, I find that the Gothic style really suites a Sith's personality. When I finish, I walk out of the massive bathroom and make my way through the living room, walking down a circular corridor that leads to my private elevator shaft.

I push the button on the right side of the elevator and the doors immediately slide apart, revealing a carpeted elevator with a clean silver railing running along the middle of the elevator. Honestly, I am starting to get hopelessly lonely since Dap, Cindy and Oswald are still safe on Gaia. I should spend time with them when this whole mess with the Chiss is over.

I push a button on the inside of the elevator and the doors immediately slam shut, before the elevator starts going down past multiple levels until we reach the bottom level. The doors immediately slide open and I walk down the wide stone corridors, cameras built into the walls and other security measures everywhere. Directly in front of me, resting on the ground with its right side facing me, is a transport that has 6 seats and a woman with short blonde hair dressed in a crisp black military uniform of an officer and a pair of twin golden wings on her right breast, is getting out of the transport and looks quite surprised to see me. "Emperor. Forgive me for my late arrival. I had no idea you would be ready yet." She asks, a hint of fear on her face.

I can't help but feel a little bit smug on the inside. Oh, how it feels good to intimidate people every once in a while. "I decided to get going earlier than usual. Now, take me to our guest."

"Yes sir!" She says, snapping to attention and giving a crisp salute. I simply nod in acknowledgment and get seated directly in the middle of the back row. The woman gets herself seated in the front row and lifts the transport off the ground, flying high above Mandalore City. The whole city is structured just like Sundari, but with barracks added all around the outer edges of the city, accompanied with 4 turrets that form a square perimeter around the entire dome. As this is the new capital of Mandalore, it makes sense for it to have an even stronger than usual military presence.

The transport flies high above the city, and as we make our way to the massive tower in the center of the city, I look down at the ground below. Civilian transports are flying around in all directions, with a giant blimp flying through the air with various advertisements all over it, but the biggest one of all is directly in the center, advertising a squad of Imperial Army troops marching into battle with some Navy troops at their side and bombers flying above them with the phrase 'Every Life Matters. Fight for Your Very Freedom.'

The transport arrives at the main tower and docks on the top floor of the security complex. I get out and walk towards another, higher-ranking officer wearing a campaign hat that completely covers his face. Yet for some reason, he seems strangely familiar. "Emperor. The prisoner is waiting to see you." The man says with a rich New England accent, standing at attention.

"Take me to him, Sergeant." I snap, not wanting to take any longer than I have to. The sergeant nods and turns around, walking back inside with me following close behind. We make our way through the steel grey corridors, past pairs of troops as they talk with each other casually, until we reach the first door on the right. I can sense a presence inside the walls, one that is filled with cunning and cold efficiency. "Stay out here. I am going alone." I say, then use the Force to slide the door open. Inside is a simple grey square room with a table in the center, with 2 chairs on either side. The chair on my right is occupied by a typical Chiss in yellow prisoner garb. This Chiss has almost shaved blue hair and red eyes almost the color of blood. Strapped around his mouth is a translator device that the Imperial Science Department cooked up so language barrier is no longer an issue.

"You must be the illustrious Emperor Kadabra." The Chiss says with an almost annoyingly calm tone. "My name is Mitth'raw'nurudo. It is a pleasure to meet you at long last."

"Mitth'raw'nurudo. Do you mind if I just call you Thrawn? It rolls off the tongue a little easier." I respond then get seated in the other seat. Thrawn nods in agreement, still staring at me intently. "Now, I had heard a most peculiar rumor from my subordinates. Despite our peoples being at war, you desire to join my Empire. While I appreciate the gesture, I am curious as to why you chose to leave your empire and why you chose to come to us." I then stretch my senses out to him, surrounding his feelings and heart rate to differentiate truth from lie.

"The Aristocra are becoming blind from fear and the Chiss Defense Fleet is becoming increasingly incapable of defending the homes of my people. Your Empire, however, has proven itself to maintain order despite the wars that ravage the galaxy." Trawn says, still deadly calm as ever.

I stare at him, stretching my senses out to try and feel any deception. To my surprise, I don't feel anything off. "I see. You are certainly a unique individual, Thrawn. I can tell that you are one who plans before he strikes, and my Empire could use a man like you."

"Thank you. Now, shall we get down to business?" Thrawn suggests, placing his hands onto the table.

I simply nod in understanding, hoping that Thrawn might be a genuine benefit to my Empire. Before either of us make any suggestions to start our conversation, the door slides open and the man who escorted me into the facility runs in, an alarmed look in his red eyes. "Emperor! We have a situation."

"We do indeed have one if you do not leave us this very second." I respond, my tone becoming instantly steely and eye glowing slightly.

"Sir! It's the Chiss Ascendancy. They are attacking Mandalore and have breached the city!"

My anger only grows in magnitude, but no longer at the Lieutenant. "Take me outside. I will help clean up this mess." I then glance at Thrawn, who is still maintaining an expression of cold indifference, but on the inside, I can tell he is shocked beyond belief. "And you. You are not leaving this cell." I then stand up and walk out of the cell, sealing the door with the Force. "Have 2 men on this block to make sure our prisoner doesn't escape."

"Sir yes sir." He says, snapping to attention. Smiling a little at the man's enthusiasm, I start running outside with the Lieutenant in tow after he tells a pair of nearby troops to stand guard. We stop when we see the city under full scale assault. Civilians are desperately running away from blue-skinned Chiss massing inside and firing silver blaster rifles upon the Imperial troops, who are bravely standing their ground and firing back.

As I am about to join the fight, I am kicked in the side of the head and go reeling. I roll back to my feet and look at my assailant. It is a Chiss woman with long flowing blue hair and the same red eyes as Thrawn, but without the same intensity. She says something in her language before charging at me, pulling out a silver blaster pistol with blue highlights and tries slamming it into my face. I use the Force to freeze her in place, then crush her blaster pistol. From off to the side, the Lieutenant pulls out a bulkier and more advanced version of the plasma rifle only Sergeant Majors or superior officers are allowed, the new plasma railgun, and begins charging it up. Blue light glows from inside the plasma before a set of 6 glowing blue rings rockets forward. Seeing what the muscular soldier is doing, I continue holding the Chiss woman in place as the shot collides with her, making the entire upper half of her body explode in a mountain of blood. Some of the blood and leftover bone material splashes onto my face. I break the Force hold to wipe the blood off my face. "Are you alright, sir?"

I look at the Lieutenant who is now lowering his weapon. Now I know why he looks familiar; he looks like the officer from Gaia who trained soldiers such as the now-famous Corporal Alan Temple. "You're Lieutenant Surge, aren't you?" I ask, getting an idea.

"Yes, sir. My given name is Gary Tod, but the name 'Surge' stuck somehow." Surge responds, turning his attention back to the battle below and watching it intently.

"Excellent. Take control of the ground troops and route the Chiss. Make sure any civilians are saved wherever they can. I am going to send the Chiss a special present." I respond, then get into the front seat of the transport that is still docked. Surge reels his attention in andgets into one of the seats then I take off to join the battle, leaving the tower behind with troops and officers running around in all directions since I already know that they can secure that tower themselves.

I weave the transport around the buildings before entering a nosedive, flying towards the ground and the waves of Chiss soldiers still pouring into the city. The troops, along with the Imperial forces, all look up and they just stare at the scene, shock and horror on their faces.

I get up and run to the back of the transport before jumping high into the air, with Surge doing the same, and the transport smashes against the ground, scraping the ground the heavily before exploding in a ball of fire that kills many Chiss and knocking the rest off their feet. "All troops, march. Let's kill these blue bastards!" Surge shouts, as he runs at a male Chiss soldier who is still dazed from the impact and kicks him back into the air before gripping his head and snapping it to the side before proceeding to massacre the other soldiers as they are trying to re-organize themselves.

"No wonder he's called Surge." I mutter, impressed by his bold courage to run straight into battle. I activate my lightsaber and slash apart every Chiss that is in my way as I make my way to the circular entrance that several Chiss had no doubt infiltrated. Mainly because this is the only way to enter the nearest defense tower. It has many rows of plasma cannons to stave off any ground assault, but the real trump card is a massive cannon on the top that can fire HIROSHIMA rounds into space.

I use the Force to open the door before running through the corridor until I reach the base of the tower, with 2 Chiss standing guard. I clench my Demon's Hand, and the Chiss's skulls simultaneously explode, sending more blood rocketing in all directions. I look up to see the multiple levels of the square tower, accessible by either the central elevator connected to the levels by a thin walkway, or stairs. Since neither option is fast enough, I opt to use the Force to jump high into the air, landing on each floor before I reach the 2nd-to-top floor, not taking notice of the corpses on the ground. The top floor is not open like the others, so I will need to open another set of doors quickly. I notice the door, already blown open by some sort of explosive. I run up the short staircase and come to the top, where 4 Chiss officers and a dozen troops, some of them looking injured. I use the Force to lift the troops into the air and smash them together before throwing them against the glass walls.

I lift up my lightsaber then proceed to cut down 3 of the officers. The last one starts backing away from me, terror on his face. "Why are you here?" I ask, lifting up my lightsaber and pointing it at his neck.

The Chiss looks at me then says only one thing. "Mitth'raw'nurudo." My eye narrows in shock before proceeding to cut the coward's head off. At least now I know why they are here. Oh, is Thrawn in so much trouble.

"Good riddance." I say, then look at the cannon. I run to the left side of the cannon and step into the deep-sea fishing-style seat with the console in front of me. I notice that the cannon is already loaded and ready to fire. And it would have, had it not been for trespassers. Smirking slightly, I re-activate the cannon and follow the direction of the Force as I point the cannon to the sky, which immediately activates and shows the space battle. The Imperial Fleet and Chiss Defense are locked in a brutal stalemate, with the _Black Phoenix_ hanging back from the battle, hiding behind the rest of the fleet and not even firing a shot. What is Captain Hearne doing? The capital ship has more than enough firepower to hold its own against this Chiss invasion fleet.

I direct my attention to steering the cannon towards the capital ship of the Chiss Defense Fleet, the large Royal Chiss Destroyer. I have never done what I am about to do before, but right now, I need to take it upon myself to finish this skirmish. Once I am in position, I put the cannon on standby. The 6-feet wide barrel shoots upward, out of a slot in the roof and pointed at the capitol ship. "Here's Johnny." I say, then push the fire button on the screen. The cannon vibrates violently, but the nuclear round is already flying high into the sky, nothing more than a white beam of shining light that sends only death. As it continues flying out of Mandalore's atmosphere, I then concentrate heavily on the Force as I stare at the HIROSHIMA round. As I hoped, it never lost momentum as it breaks free of the atmosphere and strikes the Royal Destroyer dead on. The massive explosion that results sends shrapnel into 2 nearby Chiss frigates, destroying them. I let out a sigh of relief and watch as the remaining 10 frigates, essentially smaller versions of the Royal Destroyer with sharper fronts, try to turn around and prepare to escape the battle. As they do so, a Trireme breaks the Imperial Fleet's formation and sets its thrusters to maximum burn as it rams into the poor frigate, evident by how it easily is torn in 2 and spills its crew and supplies into the emptiness of space. Seeing as they have lost the battle, the frigates enter hyperspace and escape the battle.

After I let out another sigh of relief, I get up from my seat and walk down the tower, when I meet with an entire squad of troops and Lieutenant Surge leading them. "I'm fine." I snap, before anyone can ask. Right now, I am nothing short of seething at how much bad luck I am having lately.

"Of course you are. What are we going to do with our defector?" Surge asks, an angry look on his face.

I look down at the ground, surprisingly reluctant about my choice. I admit that Thrawn's intellect and leadership would be of high value to me, but I need to maintain order in my Empire. In order to save my Empire from the same fate the Republic is suffering, I need to show the people that I have the courage and strength to do the things needed to ensure their safety. So, I will need to make an example of him.

* * *

 **9:30 am Gaia Time**

 **Ceremony Chamber**

 **Imperial Palace, Bottom Floor**

 **Mandalore City**

* * *

I am sitting on a golden throne that is over 10 feet in the air and overlooking a circular platform with 2 pillars standing in the center, chains dangling from the sides. Imperial guards are standing outside the chamber with civilians, military leaders stationed on the planet such as Vizsla and Granger, and members of the Imperial government for Mandalore, the capitol of the Outer Rim, are all seated on multiple rows that also overlook the platforms.

The doors at the far side of the wall open up and a duo of Navy troops march in, dragging a shirtless Thrawn between them. They continue to drag the Chiss to the platform, with people debating with each other and jeering the prisoner. Normally, prisoners like him would be put on trial, but I am pressed for time right now. After a few minutes pass, they arrive at the platform and the soldiers chain Thrawn to the pillars before standing off to the side, weapons at the ready. "Silence." I shout. The entire chamber falls silent, while the Chiss looks up at me with a calm yet angry look. "Thrawn. Former Admiral of the Chiss Expansionary Defense Force." I state to the Chiss. "You have been brought before me to receive your sentence for leading our enemies to this planet and the deaths of civilian and soldiers alike. You are hereby banished to Wild Space. But before you go, I shall honor your wish." I then wave my hand forward. A larger than average Imperial Army soldier marches from out of the shadows, a long metal rod in his hand with a brand on the tip. Thrawn looks at it, his calm demeanor now slipping and a shocked look forms on his face. "You wished to join my Empire. So now, you shall bear its mark for all time." The Army trooper then grips the rod, points the red-hot front at Thrawn's chest before thrusting forward. No matter how much Thrawn tries to hold it down, he squeezes his eyes shut and hisses in pain as steam curls off his body. After several long and agonizing seconds, the trooper pulls the rod off Thrawn's body. In the middle of his chest is the symbol of my Sith Empire, black against his dark blue skin. People start cheering loudly at the pain Thrawn must have endured for the deaths his species caused today.

The Navy troops step back into the fray, unchain the Chiss, and haul him away. My throne lowers itself to the ground and the noise continues to rampage through the chamber. Subtly, I use the Force to amplify my voice. "Silence." I say, my voice carrying across the hall. As instructed, the hall silences and directs their attention to me. "I know that you are happy that we have struck this blow against the Chiss Empire. But why should we settle for this? I will make you a promise that I will keep. In a matter of days, we shall find the home-world of the Chiss and bring an end to their evil ways."

The people start cheering for my words, after-which my throne lowers to the ground and I walk away from the chamber, escorted by 4 Sith Knights in English-style medieval armor. We walk through out the back entrance, then ride up an elevator that takes me to the 2nd floor, the personal docking bay where a Beetle transport is waiting to banish Thrawn. "Stand here and make sure my 2 guests arrive. I am going to see the prisoner off." I state, then walk to the black transport alone. A pair of Army troops are hauling a still-shirtless Thrawn.

Thrawn, however, notices me but manages to hold a calm persona. Jeez, how can he look so calm after all this? "Why?" He asks me through the translator still on his mouth. The troops stop marching to the transport and stare at me with confusion radiating from them, despite still wearing their armor.

"Because the people need to see that action is being taken against your species. It's good to maintain order." I reply, then look to the troops. "Move along."

The troops just nod and finish walking on-board the ramp which leads to the large intelligence ship before the ramp leading on-board lifts upward and locks into place, allowing the Beetle to take off and fly out of Mandalore City and the planet itself. "My Emperor." One of the Sith Knights says. I turn my gaze from the vast city and notice the 4 Knights walking to me, Lieutenant Surge and Captain Felicia Hearne with them. Felicia, admittedly, is a talented mandalorian woman who showed great potential in combat and leadership, being able to follow orders well and improvise when necessary. Such examples include the campaign that secured numerous systems and planets like Garel and Muunilinst. The latter's capture set off the sequence of events and instability that is leading the InterGalactic Banking Clan into eventually declaring bankruptcy. But today, she has taken a massive step back, if the reports from her deck officers is any indication.

"Captain Hearne. Why did you abandon your post at the bridge?" I ask coldly, glaring at her slightly.

Hearne flinches slightly under my glare, but mostly maintains her composure. "My Emperor. I was coordinating the attack from space. I had no need to fight in the battle." She says, then her eyes widen in horror.

I glare at her even harder than before. "So you risk the lives of your soldiers while you just hang back? While I can understand your logic, I also see it as an act of cowardice. And if Supreme Admiral Vizsla hears this, he will be less than pleased."

"But…but, Emperor. I managed to discover something in the process."

That cuaght my attention. "Speak."

"During the battle, I had one of my best pilots plant a tracking probe on one of the surviving frigates. My officers took the data from the probe and have found the location of the Chiss home-world."

I simply stare at her, surprise replacing anger. Even Surge looks stunned at this turn of events. Okay, so maybe her actions had yielded some benefits. As a reward, her sentence is going to be considerably lighter. "I see. Captain Felicia Hearne, I will keep your actions secret from Vizsla, but as a price, you are demoted to Lieutenant First Class and will be shipping out with Admiral Granger's fleet on their mission to Nal Hutta."

"But sir. That leaves the Empire's capitol ship without a captain." Surge says, failing to see the logic in my choice.

I then turn to the man and maintain a neutral look. "Lieutenant. Are you willing to lead your troops into battle and serve directly under my command?"

"Of course." Surge responds barely a second later.

"Well, then. Congratulations. You have been promoted to Captain of the _Black Phoenix_. Get the crews prepared and supplies loaded. Our invasion of the Chiss home-world is about to begin." I say, then turn around to stare at Mandalore City and the people working to repair it. The Aristocra have made a great mistake, and they will all pay for it dearly.

* * *

 **November 10th**

 **11:00 am Gaia Time**

 **Bridge of** _ **Black Phoenix**_

 **Orbiting Mandalore**

* * *

"Sir. We are receiving a transmission."

"Put it through." I respond, jumping out of my captain's chair hoisted into the air 3 feet by a cylindrical platform so I can overlook the deck officers and the space outside the ship. Before the announcement, I was watching the Imperial Invasion Fleet that has been rallied together to end the threat of the Chiss Ascendancy floating in the empty space.

Over 200 Imperial ships make up the dangerously massive fleet, with half of them being Triremes, 50 Drakkars, 49 Galleons and the _Black Phoenix_ serving as the flagship. Even after all the risks I am taking to amass this fleet, we will be heavily outnumbered. Strategy is the only way to win this war.

The transmissions of the fleet's captains appear on the comms table outside the main bridge where the deck officers are working, with Captain Surge and Supreme Admiral Vizsla standing off to the side to also contribute to the meeting. "Members of the Sith Empire. Let us begin formulating a strategy for how we will deal with the entire Chiss species as they prepare for a last stand. According to the data that Lieutenant Hearne has provided, the Chiss Ascendancy makes their home on a planet in the Unknown Regions they call Csilla. According to our probe, Csilla is a planet that is so cold that they have entire cities built underground. In a way, they are similar to New Concordia."

"So, they have a mongo fleet surrounding an ice bucket they call home and a whole slew of cities underground. There's going to be a ton of security." One of the captains says, stroking his stubby beard in thought.

"Indeed, Captain Johnson. Did you pack the energy drill onto your ship?" I ask the Captain.

"Yup. I even have the 4 large, red kyber crystals like you requested as well." Captain Johnson responds.

"Good. That drill is our key to victory. Make sure that it stays safe, or else." I state, then add the last part with a menacing tone.

The Captain nods, looking slightly afraid. "I see. So, the space battle is merely a distraction while the drill does its job." Vizsla says, walking forward. He is completely decked out in mandalorian armor in the eventuality of a head-on conflict, helmet at his side and all. In addition, all of the microphones on the ships have been turned on so the orders will no-one will forget my orders.

"Correct, Supreme Admiral. Although I believe that we can weaken their forces even further if we turn this battle into one with 3 sides. Do you believe that when we arrive at the system, we can send a fake distress signal to the Republic?"

Vizsla only nods in understanding, smiling widely. "Of course. But we will need to make sure that one of the Adaptors is onboard one of the Republic ships they will no doubt send so he can fire upon the Chiss Defense Fleet before evacuating."

"Indeed. Then, once the Republic has softened up the Chiss Defense Fleet before being destroyed, have all ships fire a single volley of EMP blasts. That will soften the fleet up even further for when the main assault starts. Any thoughts on that, Captain Surge?"

Surge mulls his thoughts over for nearly a minute before providing his input. "Well, the Drakkars are designed specifically for taking absurd amounts of punishment. Have those ships fire heavy rounds first, then turn to their sides to absorb any bombardment the Chiss throw at them and send out fighters and bombers. I believe the bomber have enough power to destroy those ships' bridges; that would make them helpless."

I nod, seeing the logic in the suggestion. "Good. But what of the Triremes and Galleons?"

"I suggest we do as Captain Surge suggested, but also have waves of volleys from the primary cannons. The Galleons fire their volley first then use their side cannons, followed by the Triremes which will also use their cannons as well as their battering rams. Make sure that no shuttles manage to escape their destruction." Vizsla adds.

I nod to the Supreme Admiral, impressed with his suggestions. "Spoken like a true mandalorian warrior. However, all of you must remember that your fight is merely a distraction for the true key to winning this battle. Captain Johnson, your Trireme will not take part in the main battle. You will have Lieutenant Skerris secure a section of the planet, after-which you will land your troops on the ground and have them install the drill onto the surface. I will be sending you 2 Mavens and Tiel to make sure you succeed."

"Two Mavens? Emperor, I don't believe that will be necessary." The Captain replies, only to start twitching and falling to the ground. Thank you, Demon's Hand, for blessing me with the ability to activate every nerve in a person's body and make them suffer unbelievable pain.

"You better watch your tone, **Captain**. Sith presence is necessary, for the Chiss are a brilliant species that can adapt to any situation and pull a win from certain defeat. I will not make the mistake of underestimating them. Am I clearly understood?" I ask, lifting the Force technique.

The Captain gets back to his feet shakily, a look on his face that betrays how afraid he really is. "Yes sir."

"Good. Prepare your crew for battle. You are all dismissed. May the Force be with us."

The Captains all bow simultaneously and their transmissions cut off. Vizsla then steps forward, looking a little confused. "Emperor, permission to speak freely?"

"Go ahead."

"What is the real purpose of the drill? Are we going to drill ourselves to Csilla's capitol and capture the Aristocra?"

At first, I can only smirk at the thoughts running through my mind. "No. The Chiss are too proud to surrender to us. As such, they will need to be massacred. That drill, powered by kyber crystals, will create a hole to the planet's core, after-which the _Black Phoenix_ will fire a HIROSHIMA round into the hole. That will set off a chain reaction that will cause earthquakes and eruptions of such magnitude that the planet will tear itself apart. Without their home-world, the Chiss will never survive."

The deck officers around me stop working, looking at me with horror on their faces. Even Surge and Vizsla look shocked to hear the plan. Vizsla recovers first, when he snaps to attention. "Why didn't you tell the other captains of your plan?" Surge asks.

"Because some of the captains might become cowards and if captured by the Chiss or some rebel cell, they would betray us and reveal everything, thus ruining everything." I respond.

"I see." Vizsla responds. "Captain Surge, prepare the ship's cloaking generator and have the whole fleet prepared to enter Beamspace. We will join the battle once we have confirmation that the Republic is engaging the enemy."

Surge nods and begins barking orders to the troops and the last preparations are made for the fleet. Vizsla got back onto the comms and ordered one of the Triremes and enter Beamspace so they can coordinate the Republic's supposed attack on the Chiss.

Right now, all I need is patience.

* * *

 **2 hours later…**

* * *

At this point, I am beginning to get really bored. Protocols are being sent out in all directions and the Imperial Invasion Fleet is finally organized and ready to fight.

As I continue to watch the ships flying around in all directions, one of the deck officers walks up to my side. "Sir. A transmission has just come through from our advance party. The Republic had arrived at Csilla. They are engaging one another."

I look at the officer, eye widening for a second before a wide smile begins forming on my face. It's about damn time things got going. "Good. Supreme Admiral!" I shout, calling the mandalorian over. "Have all ships separated by their class. We are beginning the invasion."

Vizsla stares at me for a second before nodding in understanding. "Set the _Black Phoenix_ 's thrusters to 75% burn and activate the Beamspace drives as well as the cloaking generators. Let us know the Chiss what we are made of." He shouts. The deck officers start scrambling around in all directions, communicating with the crew to strap down and the engineers to make sure the engines are stable. I lean back in my seat and continue staring out the window, as my capitol ship surges forward and the space around it starts distorting before becoming a show of swirling electric blue light. This barrage of color lasts for mere seconds before stops and a whole new scene is before us. Instead of a desert-like Mandalore, the frozen planet of Csilla takes its place, with its 3 moons and the entire Chiss Defense Fleet. I may have seen many fleets of impressive size before, but this fleet makes even me take a small gulp.

I mean, this fleet has to be in the hundreds, and all of them are engaging the last of the Republic fleet. The fighters are being decimated by the Chiss fighters, and the many frontal cannons are also tearing through the last of the Venator's deflector shields. Judging by the amounts of scraps of the remaining ships floating aimlessly and the Force fluctuating around the fleet, the Republic had sent 10 ships and 2 Jedi Knights to investigate the fake distress signal. This turned out to be even more beneficial than I anticipated; however, I can also tell from the presence that it is not Obi-Wan and Anakin, or even Leia and Sander.

To the Republic's credit, they managed to destroy 2 dozen Chiss warships in total before the last warship explodes in a ball of fire, which also kills both Jedi, not that I care to know whoever or whatever they are. "Holy shit." One of the deck officers' mutters, staring at the scene with an expression that shows how afraid he has become. Suddenly, his monitor beeps loudly and flashing with a red light. He looks at it intently before looking up at me. "Emperor, our scanners have picked up an escape pod coming at us."

"Good. Activate the tractor beam and pull it in." I respond. I then turn my chair around to face Captain Surge, standing next to the holographic projections of the many captains in the fleet. "Vizsla, give the order for all Drakkars to fire a single volley."

The Supreme Admiral nods and quickly relays the orders. I turn around and watch as the Drakkars escorting my capitol ship simultaneously fire their primary cannons, causing dozens of white beams of light to arc through space, their trajectory perfect. Each shot strikes a Chiss warship, with 2 of them hitting 2 Royal Chiss Destroyer. Said ships begin drifting helplessly in space, electricity crackling around them. The rest of the fleet takes notice of my ships and begins firing upon us. But as instructed, the Drakkars turn to their sides so the shields are facing the fleet. Even from the amount of protection, I can see the shields flare up violently from the barrage of enemy fire. But thanks to that protection, the docking bays on top of each heavy transport open up and hundreds of fighters and bombers start flying out, making their way towards the Chiss fleet.

As they continue pouring out, I make a decision. "Screw it; we're going to join the fray. Captain Surge, release our own fighters."

"Yes sir!" He shouts then gets onto the loudspeakers, shouting, "This is Captain Surge. All pilots, load up and prepare for immediate departure."

I then notice out of the corner of my eye the Galleons uncloaking their own ships and firing a round from their primary cannons, under Vizsla's command. Everything is going according to plan.

* * *

 **11:15 am Gaia Time**

 **Bridge of the Trireme-class** _ **Red Dawn**_

 **Orbiting Csilla**

* * *

 **3** **rd** **Person POV:**

* * *

Captain Gaff Johnson lets out a long sigh of frustration.

He is way too stubborn to admit it out loud, but he is afraid for his life. He would rather take on the 500 Chiss warships that surround the planet alone than anger his Emperor again. The moments of absolute pain he experienced when he came within an inch of insubordination is something he never wants to relive again.

Right now, he is watching from the bridge of his personal ship as the Drakkars safely form a long blockade that absorbs every single laser shot at it, with fighters engaging the Chiss fighters. They all have 4 sharp wings pointing forward that all attach to a rectangular pod that is only large enough to fit one pilot.

Of course, next to his ship, the Galleons all start firing their primary rounds at the Chiss fleet, severely damaging their numbers again and allowing the bombers to strike the bridges of the ships. This, in turn, leads to massive chain reactions that blow up the whole ships and sends shrapnel colliding into the other ships, creating even more havoc upon the compressed fleet.

By now, the Chiss fleet has been reduced considerably by the multiple waves, but is still huge. Suddenly, a beeping sound can be heard and the captain turns around to see the comms table flashing its lights before the image of Supreme Admiral Vizsla appears, staring at him with a determined look. "All Triremes, fire your volleys. _Red Dawn_ , _Achilles' Wrath_ , punch a hole through the fleet and establish a perimeter planet-side."

"On the double, Supreme Admiral." Johnson responds, then turns around. "All right, people. Fire and EMP round and set this ship's forward thrusters to maximum burn."

"Aye Captain!" The weapons officer shouts before coordinating the orders. The ship jolts underneath their feet, nearly knocking a few people off their feet, and the round arches through space, a beam amongst yet another wave of death for the Chiss. One of their ships manages to get off a heavy shot in time that tears through a Galleon's shields and completely blows up the ship, leaving its scraps floating in space. A newfound rage flows through Johnson's body and he glares ahead as his ship charges forward, alongside another Trireme. Together, they fly through the empty space that separates the Imperials from the Chiss. As they approach a disabled Chiss warship, Johnson gets onto the private comm line that runs through the dark silver assault carrier.

"Brace for impact, people. We're going in hard." He shouts before running to the railing and grips it with all his might. The rest of the crew pull out their handles and grip them with all their might as the _Red Dawn_ continues approaching the warship's bridge before colliding with it. Johnson lets out a grunt along with the rest of the crew, but they shatter the entire bridge of the Chiss ship before proceeding to fly through the blockade and to the planet.

"Sir! Our scanners are picking up multiple shuttles flying up from the surface." One of the officers shouts up.

"Our first kills of the city. Lieutenant Martinez, release all plasma cannons and rain death upon their shuttles." Johnson says, his blue eyes darkening after that last part.

As instructed, all of the hatches open up and the plasma cannons are primed. On the light warship's right side, a large dark silver shuttle rockets toward the sky, carrying refuges trying to evacuate the planet. The shuttle steers in the opposite direction to try and avoid destruction, but the plasma cannons on the right side begin firing rapidly. The plasma cannons strike the unprepared transport, and the thrusters immediately explode under the plasma strike. The shuttle then begins falling back towards the planet slowly. The _Achilles' Wrath_ also manages to shoot down another 2 shuttles before the Triremes arrive within 50 feet above the surface.

The warships immediately pull upward, straightening out and the docking bays on the top of the ships slide apart. An Arrow flies into the sky before setting down on the left side of the flattest piece of land, completely surrounded by tall mountains made of ice.

On the opposite side of that same valley, a dozen Chiss soldiers in snow gear stand up and start firing their long blaster rifles that resemble sniper rifles. The hatch of the Arrow opens up and 18 Imperial Army soldiers jump out and open fire on the Chiss. Nine of the Army troops, once on the ground, activate their portable deflector shields while the others in the back fire upon the enemy. Many of the Chiss fall to the ground, screaming in pain from the wounds on their bodies, before going still. The last survivors get into a kneeling position for better stability and fire upon the Imperial troops, one of the shots managing to hit a trooper in the shoulder and making him go down.

Seeing this, another trooper lets out a battle cry, pulling out a combat knife, and leaps over the makeshift wall towards the Chiss. Before she can make it to the enemy, a massive wave of white light blazes out from behind the troops. They try running from the massive wave but their movements become sluggish before completely stopping in place, frozen solid. Two more soldiers step out from behind a small boulder of ice nearby, one of them holding a weapon similar in design to a flamethrower, but with liquid nitrogen on the bottom of the weapon. The wielder is a Maven in light blue armor that resembles Imperial Army armor, except the helmet is round like a sphere with a mouth-plate and light blue goggles covering his face. At his side is Agent Pennsylvania, armor gleaming against the light. "Good job, trooper."

"Agreed." Pennsylvania says, lifting up a crossguard lightsaber and activating the black blade before rapidly slashing the Chiss corpses apart and using the Force to push their remains off to the side. "Well, we're clear."

The 2 Mavens and the rest of the troops look to the sky to see a dozen fighters fly out of the transport, hoisting up via tether lines a black circle with 4 glowing red kyber crystals forming a diamond shape, with long rods connecting to an even larger rod pointing down, all held up by 15-feet tall poles that protrude farther outward the farther down they go. A second and larger circle connects all four of these bases together.

The fighters fly closer to the ground before gently setting the device down. Seconds later, another Chiss shuttle flies into the air and tries to escape the planet, but a massive beam of blue energy collides with the center of the ship, making it explode in a ball of fire. Tiel flies out of the _Achilles' Wrath_ , its armor also shining against the bright ice. "There are no hostiles in this vicinity. You may proceed." Tiel says with its near-robotic voice.

"That doesn't mean we can't expect the Chiss to attack. All fighters, detach cables and set up the perimeter. Destroy everything you might come across." Lieutenant Vult Skerris says over their comms line from his personal Assassin fighter, then detaches his cable and proceeds to fly away, with the rest of the fighters doing the same and going different directions. Tiel also flies off with Skerris in case they need extra assistance.

"Well, that leaves us alone." One of the Imperial troops says, relief in his voice.

"Keep your eyes and ears open. We need to keep all enemies away from this drill until it has done its job." Agent Alaska says, then walks to a control panel on 1 of the drill's bases and pulls a lever on the left, followed by the lever on the right before staring at the 2 red buttons next to it. "Um…" He says, looking between the 2 buttons with a look of confusion under his helmet. "I can never remember which…"

Pennsylvania walks up and pushes Alaska to the side, after-which he pushes the button on the left. "That one." He says bluntly. Suddenly, the drill starts roaring to life and the circle on top starts spinning, and picking up speed after a few seconds until it is nothing more than a blur. Alaska nods in understanding before stepping to the side and pushing the other button. In response, the kyber crystals start glowing brighter and brighter before the red lights travel down the rods and form a thick beam of light. The single red beam hits the ground, and the raw heat immediately starts melting through the icy terrain.

The Imperial troops only watch as the drill makes a hole that grows in size and deepens after each second that passes. As the drill does its work, one of the Imperial troops runs back into the valley. "Yo, Trench. Where have you been?" The female sergeant asks with a bossy tone.

"As far away as possible from you. Anyway, I wanted to do some reconnaissance work for you and I just wanted to let you know that we have Chiss coming our way."

Alaska lifts up his custom snowthrower. "How many can we expect?" He asks.

Trench rubs the back of his head sheepishly. "Um… 200, maybe a lot more?"

That makes the soldiers let out a simultaneous groan, but they raise their weapons anyway. "All right. Where are they coming from?"

"That way, Sergeant Sanderson." Pennsylvania says, pointing to the small mountain range that Private Trench came from.

"Right, then. You two, stay here and make sure nothing happens to the Emperor's operation or one of my men." Sanderson says, pointing to the Mavens. "The rest of you, on me now."

The rest of the troops start running up the ice mountains, using their sharp fingers to dig into the slowly melting ice, before making it to the top of the gap. Sure enough, 15 snow mobiles with 2 snow treads and 4 wheels inside of it on each side are barreling forward, another dozen in the distance. Each transport has a dozen Chiss soldiers in snow gear, holding their charric weapons at their sides, riding on the back. "All right. Here's what we are going to do. Private Hudson, shoot the wheels on the front transport. That will knock it off-balance and send the other transports sprawling."

"Oh yeah. I'll send them all down the highway to hell." Private Hudson responds, clicking his plasma rifle and setting it to rapid-fire mode.

"Once those transports are taken care of, make sure no one survives. Private First Class Dursley, if the Chiss get too close to our position, beat those fuckers sky high."

"Gladly." Dursley responds, gripping his rifle even tighter than before.

Hudson pulls out a sniper rifle scope and after screwing it onto his plasma rifle, raises it up and points it at the transport in the front of the pack. "Hey bluetards. Pop goes the weasel." He says, singing the last part, before pulling the trigger.

The plasma shot flies through the air before hitting one of the wheels. As predicted, the transport spirals out of control, slamming into another 3 transports and crushing a dozen Chiss troops in the process. "Yeah. Fuck you! Oh, you want some of this? Fuck you, too." Hudson shouts, aiming his rifle at another transport and shoots out its wheels, making it crash into the rest of the transports. All of them are now toppled on their sides, black smoke pillars and steam rising into the air and the 100 troops that survive crawl out of the spaces.

All at once, the Imperial Army troops start firing on the first wave of Chiss troopers, their superior combat experience allowing them to gun down many troopers within the first minute before ducking behind the ice structure as their enemies continue raining fire upon them. "Private Trench, throw a smoke grenade!" The sergeant shouts.

"Aye aye." Trench shouts, then pulls out a rectangular-shaped smoke grenade, the newest weapon provided to the Imperial Army, and after flipping the cover up and pushing the red button, throws it as far as he can over his shoulder. The grenade flies several feet into the air before landing yards in front of the troops. It explodes, killing 2 wounded Chiss with shrapnel, and the cloud of smoke hangs low to the ground, obscuring their vision. The Imperial troops jump out from behind their cover and gun down the rest of the troops.

"Good job, men. But we have another wave incoming. ETA 10 minutes." Sanderson says, looking towards the 2nd wave of Chiss troops that are approaching. Two massive explosions can be seen far in the distance, but they quickly disappear from view.

"Let's put these punks in their place." Dursley says, glaring at them from under his helmet. Just then, they all hear the sounds of roaring engines and look to their right to see 4 Chiss fighters flying toward them.

"You have got to be kidding me. Air raid, bitches!" Sanderson shouts, falling onto her stomach. The soldiers around her do the same as the fighters drop cylindrical bombs on the ground in front of them.

The explosion sends them all flying backwards and landing on their backs. Hudson stands up and glares at the fighters. "Yeah? You missed, assholes!" The rest of the bombs crash into other ice mountains, blowing them up and sending them crashing to the ground, while the Arrow receives the last bomb and explodes. A Galleon flies down from the sky, plasma cannons blazing and quickly tearing through the fighters. "What the hell, man? What are those Navy dogs here?"

As they stare at the Galleon in shock, the Chiss start climbing up the mountain-side and firing on them. Private Dursley charges at the closest soldier, pulling out a combat knife and stabbing him the chest before yanking it out and punching him back over the hill. Sergeant Sanderson watches this, and the rest of her troops, fight valiantly against the approaching enemy with respect. She then looks behind her and starts running to the drill where the 2 Mavens are firing their weapons, her feet starting to sink in the ice that is becoming softer under her feet. Alaska is firing his snowthrower at an approaching Chiss before punching his head off while Agent Pennsylvania uses his black crossguard lightsaber to cut down the troops. "How long do we need until the job is done?"

Alaska looks at the drill for a few seconds before responding. "We need another 5 minutes. We're almost done."

"Fine. Make it quick." She shouts back, before lifting up her rifle and firing upon the oncoming Chiss troopers. But no matter how many Chiss they kill, more keep crawling up. The troops manage to hold their own until the hatch of the Navy ship opens up and dozens of turquoise-armored Navy troops jump out, activating their jetpacks as they fly to the ground and fire their own weapons at the Chiss, whittling their numbers down to nothing. One of the goblin troops lands on the ground and uses his jetpack to propel himself to the other side, searching for any survivors.

"Hey there. We heard you guys threw yourselves into a pretty sticky situation back there." The Sergeant says with an Eastern European accent.

"Blain. Thanks for the assistance. We owe you one." Sanderson says, shaking her fellow sergeant's hand.

Before any more celebrations can be done, 4 more Chiss run up the hill in midnight black armor and fire upon the 2 Mavens. Pennsylvania easily deflects some of the blasts back at the troopers, killing 2 of them, while another 2 shots hits Alaska in the heat-insulating chink in the armor under his armpit. He falls backward and lands on his back.

Pennsylvania stares at Alaska, shocked, before staring back at the Chiss. He charges at them with a newfound speed, holding his crossguard at his side, before slashing the remaining commandos to pieces. Another squad of 4 charge up the hill, but they are all gunned down by Private Hudson. "Hah. Suck on that."

Pennsylvania looks at the trooper, nodding in approval, before running to see Agent Alaska, who is still standing up. "I'm fine." He says, shaking off Pennsylvania's attempt to help him up, while gripping his wound to try and slow the bleeding. "No. The drill has yet to finish its job. Whatever the Emperor is planning, you need to be gone by the time it happens. Get out of here while you have the chance."

The 2 Mavens look at each other, neither backing down for a few seconds, before Pennsylvania gives. "All right. I will pick you up when we're done." He then turns toward the Arrow that had just arrived and runs towards it, where the rest of the Army troops are loading up while the Navy are using the last of their jetpack fuel to return to their ship. Once on the ramp, Pennsylvania looks back to see Alaska watching the drill, holding his snowthrower in hand and his wound which continues bleeding. Slowly, he turns around and runs back inside and gets seated in one of the seats. The doors immediately seal and lock, after-which they take off and fly towards the Trireme that is floating in mid-air, Tiel firing its plasma cannon at a Chiss warship that descended from the atmosphere to take care of the ground troops. After the small warship explodes and begins falling to the ground in a ball of fire, the docking bays slide open up and Tiel flies inside, followed by the Arrow.

Once the doors above them seal, the troops let out a simultaneous sigh of relief. They are leaving the battle.

* * *

 **11:45 am Gaia Time**

 **Bridge of the** _ **Black Phoenix**_

 **Orbiting Csilla**

* * *

 **Harrison Peverell's POV:**

* * *

I continue staring at the space battle, glee starting to fill my stomach.

While the Imperial Invasion Fleet has lost 25 Triremes, 10 Galleons, and 2 Drakkars, the Chiss Defense Fleet has taken an appalling number of casualties, losing 200 hundred light warships and larger ships, some of which are still knocked out by the EMP volleys.

"Emperor!" The communications officer shouts, catching my attention. "Captain Johnson has just reported that the kyber drill has finished its job, been safely relocated and the coordinates to the sector are being sent to us right now."

I just can't contain my giddiness much longer, so I let out a wide smile. The Chiss are about to pay dearly for their crimes against the Sith Empire. "Excellent, Lieutenant. Take us directly above those coordinates."

"Aye Emperor." The officer says, then has the _Black Phoenix_ fly out from behind the cover of the Drakkar warships and the debris of destroyed starships.

"Lieutenant Tauk. Is Little Boy Mk. II loaded and ready?" Captain Surge asks, turning to the weapons officer. I decided that Little Boy is a beautifully appropriate name considering the purpose it is about to serve.

"Aye, Captain. It is ready to fire upon command." Tauk responds, looking up from his station to address his new Captain. One who has demonstrated the courage and intellect necessary to earn the mandalorian's respect.

"Excellent." Vizsla says, then gets onto the comm table. "Vice Admiral Karath. We are moving into position to end this battle. Draw the Chiss's attention away from us."

"I will do what I can, Supreme Admiral." Karath responds before the comm line goes out. The Drakkars break formation and fire another round of EMP blasts at the remaining heavy warships that haven't been blown up the Z-wing's bombing runs. As the Chiss continue to engage the heavy warships and fighters, the _Black Phoenix_ flies through space, scraps of destroyed ships bouncing off the deflector shields, before arriving at its destination, where a single Galleon that went to assist the ground forces and the 2 Triremes that made it to the planet's surface.

Slowly but surely, the _Black Phoenix_ positions itself to where it faces the planet. "Let this day mark the destruction of the Chiss Empire. For their destruction is the will of the Force. Lieutenant Tauk, fire at will."

"Aye, Captain." The mandalorian responds, his fingers dancing across his keyboard as he works with newfound resolve. Seconds later, the capitol ship shakes violently before the special HIROSHIMA round flies through space, past the remaining Imperial and Chiss fleets, and towards the planet.

I stand up from my captain's seat, and stare at the HIROSHIMA round, using every ounce of my concentration I can muster to make sure the plutonium warhead is not slowed down or interfered with in any way. I see through the Dark Side of the Force the white comet of energy racing towards the surface of Csilla and the gaping hole in the ground. At first, I didn't think that the hole would be large enough to fit a weapon of this magnitude, but I was proven wrong. The Little Boy Mk. II flies right through the hole, going deeper and deeper into Csilla's surface and its many layers. It keeps going lower before the Force shouts to me. Not a second later, I detonate Little Boy Mk. II.

I lift my arms up, holding them apart and use every single ounce of my power to maximize the explosion deep within the surface. I continue staring at the planet, feeling the raw energy of the explosion radiating within me. At first, nothing happens. Then, after another 10 seconds, tiny cracks start appearing across the surface with bright red lights appearing along those lines, and the magma starts melting the ice. The cracks start increasing in number and becoming wider by the second; I have no doubt the gigantic earthquakes raging across the planet are helping to tear it apart faster. After a mere minute, cracks are formed all over Csilla, which now looks like a globe that got shattered by some clumsy kid and somebody did a poor job in putting it back together.

"Checkmate." I state, then thrust my arms in opposite directions. The shards of the planet explode outwards at extreme velocities, some shards crashing into one of the moons and breaking off a piece of said moon. Sometimes, an unlucky Chiss warship would get crushed by a shard of the planet, cutting off any chance for the crew to escape. I feel the widest smile I have ever made in my life creeping across my face, basking in the Force. Millions…no, billions of voices are screaming out in terror from the sudden destruction of their home-planet before suddenly being silenced.

I pull myself out of the Dark Side's embrace, and watch as the last 50 ships of the Chiss Defense Fleet, the only ones that haven't been de-activated, destroyed by the bombing runs or being demolished by a piece of their home planet, start to turn around.

"Supreme Admiral, the Chiss are trying to flee. Shall we pursue?" Vice Admiral Karath asks, appearing on the comms table.

My smile slips and I turn towards the table. As I am about to walk towards it, I fall to my knees as every muscle in my body flares up. Never in my life have I been this exhausted from doing anything.

Vizsla looks at me with a look of newfound respect, before turning to the table. "No, Vice Admiral. Your fleet has been through enough. Call off any more attacks. We have won the battle."

For the first time in a long time, Vice Admiral Karath lets out his own smile. "I will send the orders myself. All right, boys, let them go." Then the comms line goes off. From all across the surviving fleet, I can sense giddiness and the officers all erupt into cheers, hugging each other uncontrollably.

I fall to my knees and look up at Captain Surge. "Good…work." I state, my eyes getting heavier by the second.

"Thank you, Emperor. Although we should thank you for coming up with such an interesting plan."

Before I can respond or even form a coherent thought, the world starts swirling around me and I fall to the ground, my vision being clouded by darkness.

When I wake up again, I find myself staring up at a grey ceiling. I sit up and have a look around. Next to me is a bacta tank, its turquoise contents swirling in the tube lazily. "Harry."

I freeze in place, turning my head to the right. Sure enough, Dap is sitting there with a happy look on her face. "Hey honey. It's been too long."

"That's an understatement." Dap responds, then walks over and sits next to my legs, making a little room for her to sit.

"How long have I been out?" I ask, needing to know.

Dap's face turns solemn instantly. "Three days."

I stare at her with shock on my face. "Huh. With how much I exerted myself, I was expecting to be out much longer."

"Yeah, I heard about that. Make sure you don't do that again; exertion like that could kill you."

I laugh a little at the response. "Yeah, I'll take your word for it." I then swing my legs around and slide closer to my wife. "I missed you." I state, then kiss her on the lips.

The moment lasts for a few seconds before Dap breaks it. "That settles it. Emperor or not, I think that you need some time off from all this. We both need it."

I nod in understanding, believing that would be for the best. But I need to know something first. "Has Admiral Granger attained anything?" Hey, when I want to spend time with family, I want to get any valuable information upfront so I won't be interrupted.

Daphne nods, smiling. "She did more than that. Nal Hutta is under our control and the entire Hutt Grand Council was captured during one of their meetings."

"All righty then, I think that they should do things as they wish while I acquiesce to your request. To turn down your offer and make you angry…I believe Medusa herself would rather run and hide than face you."

Dap throws her head back and starts laughing out loud, with me joining in. Oh yeah, I have needed this for a long time. Gaia, here we come.

* * *

 _AN:_ Wow. That went on a lot longer than I thought. New record for me. So, since updates will start slowing down dramatically thanks to school starting very soon, I decided to give you guys a treat; an even longer than usual chapter!

On to the Q&A for this week:

aslan333: Thank you very much for the compliment.

WhiteElfElder: Yup, the Order of the Phoenix struck Kadabra. But since Sundari is one of the most fortified cities under Kadabra's control, they can't be there in person. As for how they managed to gain control of the ship… they had a little help, which I will explain at a later time.

Anyway, see ya'll next time when the beginning of the end for this story starts.


	26. Chapter 26: Domination of Hutt Space

**November 5th**

 **2000**

 **6:30 pm Gaia Time**

 **Supreme Chancellor Palpatine's Office**

 **Corusant**

* * *

 **3** **rd** **Person POV:**

* * *

"General Kenobi. Glad to see you alive, we are."

Today, the entire Jedi High Council, some of them appearing via portable holographic projections since they are staying on the front lines in case Darth Kadabra tries to outright barge into the Mid Rim, are gathered together with the Supreme Chancellor so they can hear the report from Obi-Wan Kenobi. Thanks to Obi-Wan already having experience in infiltrating prisons after the incident that nearly led to Palpatine's capture a long time ago, the High Council had agreed to send him on one of their most important missions to date.

That mission was to rescue Mandalore's Duchess Satine Kryze, her peace-loving government and as many clones as he could from a prison on Mandalore. A few hours ago, a Republic patrol cruiser found Kenobi and the survivors on-board a Nubian transport they used to escape Mandalore. After dragging the ship back to Corusant, Kenobi made his trip to the Jedi Council while the rest of the escapees get their numerous injuries treated.

By the time the modified Nubian was discovered, Kenobi had grown his beard out and changed its color to where he looks like the Jedi Master he is before his infiltration mission. Just like he did after the incident involving the Republic Judiciary Central Detention Center.

As Kenobi rode on the transport that took him to the Senate Building, he took in the feeling of being back on Corusant. The planet, especially the nearby Jedi Temple, no longer has the feeling of serenity and light that it once had. Instead, solemnness and despair filled the air. Everybody already knows that the Republic is losing terribly to the Sith Empire that has rampaged across the galaxy despite what propaganda is saying. The only thing the Republic had managed to do at this point was slow them down.

Eventually, he made it to the Senate Building, after-which he was escorted by Senate Guards to Palpatine's office. Once he arrived at the entrance, the guards merely went to stand guard on either side as the doors slid open and the Jedi walked into the fancy office.

"Master Yoda. It is good to meet some civilized people for a change." Kenobi responds, bowing his head in respect to the Grand master before walking to the front of the crowd.

"Mmm. Enlighten us on your mission, could you?" Yoda asks, staring at Kenobi with a thoughtful look.

"Of course, master Yoda. The Force was on my side when I managed to get myself captured shortly after my departure and was deported to Mandalore. I wasn't sure what kind of prison they had to successfully detain every prisoner in their empire, but I never imagined that they would use Sundari as their prison."

"Hold on a second." Anakin interrupts, making a T sign with his hands for a second. "What do you mean, 'use Sundari as their prison?'"

Some of the Council members glare harshly at Anakin for his interruption, but can't deny that they too are confused by what Kenobi said. "I mean that that Darth Kadabra managed to have the entire city of Sundari turned into a maximum-security prison. There are over a hundred troops stationed around the city, but they always stay outside its borders, leaving the prisoners to their own life sentences. I've heard they drop food into the city once a month, but most of the prisoners had already turned to cannibalism to survive. Even some of our own troops."

That froze the Jedi Council in place, shock written on their faces. They have heard of many atrocious things before, even labor camps, but this…this was just one step too far. "Did you manage to rescue the Dutchess?" Ki-Adi-Mundi asks, wanting to finally hear some good news regarding the empire that is only getting stronger while the Jedi and Republic is getting weaker.

Kenobi lets out a sigh before lowering his head. "No. She didn't survive her wounds after she tried to kill Darth Kadabra."

That caught the Jedi's attention instantly. "You mean to say that our elusive emperor was there? In this…city-prison?" Windu asks, sounding almost surprised.

"That's where things get complicated, Master Windu. I am under the impression that there are rebels deep in Imperial territory that we have yet to learn about. Because someone managed to remotely crash _Pathos One_ into Sundari as I was leading 3 mandalorian officials and 3 clones to safety." Kenobi responds.

The Jedi look at each other, revelation on their faces. Even Palpatine has a surprised look on his face. "That's the Emperor's personal cruiser." Anakin mutters, before looking up. "We need to find these rebels and help them. They can teach us things about our enemy that we have failed to learn before."

Kenobi looks up, nodding at his former padawan. "I agree, Master Skywalker. Finding out what we are truly up against should be our highest priority." Palpatine says, standing up and walking to the window so he can stare out at the vast city of Corusant.

However, Sidious is kept from musing on these events when Yoda speaks up again. "Much distress, I sense in you. More to explain, do you?"

Palpatine turns around and sees the dark look on Kenobi's face. "Yes." He responds, then starts pacing the room as he strokes his beard. "Something's not right about Darth Kadabra. When I got close to him at Sundari, I noticed that his presence feels far more…shattered, like a piece of him is missing. And right now, I have a theory as to how Darth Kadabra is so powerful. If I am right, then I fear that none of us will survive this war."

The Jedi members just stare at Obi-Wan in stunned silence, tension filling the air around them. Palpatine narrows his eyes at Kenobi's suggestion. But now that Sidious thinks about this, he realizes that Kadabra did feel incomplete, like he wasn't all there when he fought him. "Could you explain to us this theory of yours?" Windu asks again, maintaining a calm air about him despite the panic that is forming around him.

Kenobi stops pacing at stares at each council member for a few seconds before speaking again. "I believe…that Darth Kadabra has somehow managed to make himself immortal." He states, then continues. "He is a Darth who is a true master of the Dark Side, but what I saw in Sundari makes me believe that he is much more. He stayed inside _Pathos One_ as it crashed into the ground, an impact that would have killed any normal being. I saw him lying on the ground, bleeding out heavily with a piece of scrap metal imbedded in his chest. I even took his lightsaber as proof that Kadabra was finally dead. But despite all of that, he survived his injuries; he killed many insane prisoners in the city, fatally wounded Satine before taking back his lightsaber and held his own against both Maul and Savage Opress."

Stunned silence. Despite all of the training they had endured since childhood, they can't but feel horrified by what they heard. Yoda had to admit that there is something most peculiar about what he heard. Even Sidious under the persona of Palpatine is shocked by this theory, but doesn't believe it to be true. Not even his master, Darth Plagueis, was strong enough to make himself truly immortal! "Very well, then. I believe I speak for everyone in this room that after this day, I believe that there is only one way to truly end our war against this Sith Order. We must kill Darth Kadabra as soon as we get the chance." While the Jedi do not agree with how vocal the Supreme Chancellor was, they agree that Kadabra's death is the only way to end this madness. "Now, I must go to the Senate to inform them of Duchess Satine's passing."

The Jedi nod in unison, and the holographic projections cut off while the remaining Jedi walk out of the office. While the Jedi continue walking out of the office, Kenobi looks at his fellow Jedi. Each of them are lost in their own thoughts about what they just heard, but slightly afraid none-the-less. Kenobi lets out a sigh.

It is one thing to beat back the Heart of Death, but killing Darth Kadabra is something else entirely. The fate of the entire galaxy itself hangs in the balance.

* * *

 **November 14** **th**

 **5:30 am Gaia Time**

 **Corridors leading to the Docking Bay**

 **Jedi Temple**

 **Corusant**

* * *

Anakin Skywalker is walking down the corridors, his mind a million miles away.

Something's not right. The Heart of Death has made no moves to push their assault into the Mid Rim for quite some time, and that is setting him on edge. What's particularly infuriating is that this moment of silence is lasting even longer than most waits. Without any spies in Kadabra's ranks, the Jedi and Senate can only speculate as to what their enemy's next move is.

Of course, the speculations came to an end after a Jedi Knight deep in the criminal underworld of Nal Hutta lost contact with the Council. She hasn't responded in several days. When Palpatine tried to get in contact with the Hutt Grand Council to ask if the Empire has tried attacking the planet, the only one who responded was a protocol droid who told them that they all left to visit Jabba the Hutt on Tatooine.

However, the Jedi High Council didn't buy the explanation for a second. Thus, they ordered Leia and Sander to head to Tatooine and investigate what is truly going on. Since Tatooine is a dangerous world that can only be traversed by those who know how it truly works, the High Council decided that Anakin Skywalker was best suited to assist in this mission.

Not that Anakin was happy about this decision.

After the Jedi Knight heaves a sigh for the 5th time that day, the memories of his childhood flashing before his eyes for a few seconds. Eventually, he arrives at the hanger where numerous Jedi Starfighters are docked and waiting for deployment, while the _Twilight_ sits in the middle of the hangar. The freighter shines brightly against the sunlight pooling into the hanger. Anakin can't help but notice the 2nd freighter similar to the _Twilight_ that is off in the corner, parts and weapons strewn about randomly as technicians work on it. In the corner of the room is a giant cylindrical engine which is glowing with a red light.

Leia and Sander have their own freighter that was donated by Corellia before it could be scrapped. After the Siege of Devaron, one of the Heart of Death's light warships ended up crashing to the surface of the planet, and the ship was salvaged. What they discovered on the ship allowed the Republic to speed up production of the new Phase II armor to the point where the most prominent clone legions are being granted this new armor. The Beamspace drive was also salvaged and Republic scientists had spent days and nights, some of them even losing mental clarity in their obsession, trying to figure it out. In the end, they agreed to have it installed into the Corellian freighter so they can truly understand how the Sith Empire gets around without leaving a single trace. They would have torn apart the black Nubian that Kenobi and the escaped prisoners came in on, but the Force told the Jedi to keep it in the condition they found it.

"Hey, Anakin! Let's do this thing already." Shouts a familiar young voice. Anakin looks back at the _Twilight_ and sees the hatch already open and Leia, along with her padawan are standing out front.

Anakin simply stares at the duo for a few seconds, then feels a small smile creep onto his face as he walks forward. He walks onto his personal freighter, with his new companions at his side. Anakin walks to the bridge of the _Twilight_ and gets himself settled, after-which he starts working the controls. Leia gets seated on Anakin's left, helping him prime the freighter up for flight while Sander gets himself settled in the corner. Since the freighter is meant to hold only 2 people, it will not be a fun ride for him.

For a few minutes, the 2 Jedi look over the ship's controls before Anakin speaks up. "Well, looks like we're ready to go." He somehow manages to sound upbeat, despite the fact that he is returning to the one planet he doesn't want to return to.

Anakin pushes a red button on the control panel next to him, and the freighter's thrusters roar to life, the engines humming to life. Smirking in satisfaction, Anakin pulls the semi-rectangular controls towards him and the _Twilight_ lifts off the ground. It hovers in the air for a few seconds before the freighter flies forward, clearing the docking bay and soaring into the sky. "Woah!" Sander says, falling backwards and crashing onto his butt.

The _Twilight_ flies out of Corusant's atmosphere and begins approaching the dozens of Republic warships floating above the planet's surface. Palpatine declared that Corusant will have a standing army and fleet constantly so the planet will not be attacked again. All ships going to and from the planet are being monitored heavily for any potential Separatist or Heart of Death attacks. Fortunately, none of the ships contacts them or tries to stop them in any way. That means that the Jedi Council managed to alert the fleet of the freighter's departure.

Anakin flies through the fleet before pushing several other buttons and pulling a long lever back. As a result, the stars around them start distorting as they enter hyper-space. The swirling blue light is all the 2 pilots see as they traverse hyperspace for several hours. All the while, Leia and Anakin converse about various things, like how the new Phase II clone armor would hold up against Imperial Army armor, the local happening in Corusant's black market like how certain blasters have finally been declared obsolete, and more.

Sander told his mentor and friend that he is going to the medical bay to make sure that all of the supplies are straightened out in case things get real hardcore.

The 2 Jedi sit in silence, not sure what else to talk about before another monitor starts frantically beeping. Anakin pushes the button. "Well, we've arrived." Anakin states.

"Great. I'll go fetch Sander." Leia says, then gets up and walks to the medical station to pick up her padawan. Anakin pulls the lever away from himself, and the _Twilight_ pulls out of hyperspace. The swirling lights immediately dissipate and the desert planet of Tatooine appears before him, its twin suns shining brightly on the planet's right side.

"I can't believe I'm back at this dust-ball again." Anakin mutters as the door behind him opens, the 2 Jedi walking out. "Well, we have reached Tatooine. We'll be setting down on the planet and hope that this mission goes as quickly as possible."

Sander stares at the planet before him, interest shining in his eyes. "General Skywalker, didn't you come from this planet? It looks desolate." Sander asks, his eyes never leaving the planet.

Leia stares at her padawan, shaking her head at his bluntness, while Anakin flinches, albeit barely. Memories of the last time he was on Tatooine with Ahsoka flash through his mind before he shakes his head mentally. "Yes." Anakin responds, his answer forced out.

The rest of the flight towards the planet passes in silence, with Anakin steering the freighter closer and closer to the planet's surface. As it enters the atmosphere, bright orange light envelopes their view, making Sander turn away and avert his eyes. Anakin just stares forward, used to this sight, pulls upward as the freighter flies lower and lower to the ground, the fires from entering the atmosphere.

While the jolt from the freighter straightening out is enough to throw Leia off-balance and Sander to fall onto his face, Anakin manages to straighten the _Twilight_ out and set it down on the planet's surface, sand blowing in all directions as it lands.

"Alright. Let's get going." Leia says, not looking really happy about being on Tatooine, then leads the Jedi as they walk to the back of the freighter. Anakin pushes a button and the ramp opens up. But as Leia and Sander walk out into the unflinching sunlight, Sander turns around.

"You're not coming?" He asks, a surprised tone in his voice as he looks back up into the ship. Anakin is still standing on the ramp.

"No, I'm not. I am going to stay behind and sure any unwanted guests don't arrive as well." Anakin says, then pulls out a cylindrical comm device and throws it at Leia. The latter catches it in her hands and looks at it, staring back up. "May the Force be with you." He then pushes the button next to him again and the hatch starts rising upward before completely sealing up.

"Leia? What's wrong with Anakin?" Sander asks, confusion in his voice.

"Something that I am going to explain at a later time." She responds, then grips her padawan's shoulder with her left hand, steering him towards a small village in the distance. The duo walks toward the village, pushing through the moderately strong winds that blow sand into their faces. They pull the hoods up over their long, brown Jedi robes to shield their faces until the wind dies out. With the wind behind them, the 2 Jedi manage to arrive at the village. The Jedi instantly tell that something is wrong.

"Where are the villagers?" Sander asks, sounding alarmed. The entire village is silent, with absolute nothingness surrounding them.

"I don't know." Leia answers, also a little worried. She stretches her senses out through the Force, but senses no life in the immediate vicinity. As she reigns her senses in, she looks around the buildings. "This is really strange. I sense no life, but there is nothing here that shows there was ever a…battle." Her voice trails off as she hears something. Eyes widening slightly, she stretches her senses out even farther than before, hoping to figure out what exactly the sound was. Their luck is starting to pick up; she manages to use her extended senses to hear the sound of potentially hundreds of people shuffling away from them. "Something's going on. Come on."

Leia then uses the Force to jump onto the roof of a building then starts running towards the source of the peculiar noise, Sander following close behind. After a while, Leia doesn't even need to extend her hearing out since the sounds of a crowd talking with each other are becoming louder and louder after a while. Eventually, the 2 Jedi reach the source of the commotion and freeze in place, hiding behind one of the buildings.

Sprawling out before their very eyes is the starting line for a pod race track. The stands are full to the brim with civilians of the village, staring straight ahead and seem to be waiting for something. Leia's eyes widen when she notices that a dozen Imperial Navy soldiers are standing at the top of the rows, watching over the crowd as they talk with each other. They are waiting for something, but what?

"Silence!" Shouts an accented male voice over the built-in loudspeakers. The crowds go silent and focus their attention straight ahead, along with the Jedi. At the opposite side of the track steps out a man wearing a decorated black chestplate, a long blood red cloak billowing behind him. The man is deeply tanned, with combed black hair and a neatly trimmed moustache above his lip. On each of his hands is a glowing ring, its metal glinting against the harsh sunlight and a bright jewel embedded into them. "Thank you. I understand that you all must be confused as to what's going on. Let me put an end to that confusion. My name is Martín Rodrigo Cortés the Second, and I have been sent by the great emperor himself to save you from your own demise."

Many sentients in the overly-compressed crowd start murmuring with each other, some of them seeming fearful of the Imperial official before them. Somehow, the Navy troops do not point their weapons at the troops and maintain their composure. Eventually, the noise dies down and the crowd stares at Martín as he speaks again.

"I know that some of you might consider this idea blasphemy. Some of you are so rooted into your routine as slaves that the mere thought of freedom from your masters goes against what you were taught. But unlike the Hutt Clan or the Republic, the Sith Empire does not speak lies. We care about those who are caught in the crossfire, who suffer from the Clone Wars that have only ravaged millions of lives. I have been chosen by Emperor to make sure that everyone here is treated fairly, not as slaves, but as true equals."

The crowd murmurs with each other for a few more minutes, this chatter filled with hope. Sander stares at the scene before him, eyes wide with shock at these events. "This is not good."

She then stares at her padawan. "You think?" She asks, worry in her voice. Before they can converse much more, a voice shouts out from the crowd.

"How can you prove this?"

The 2 Jedi stare at each other, then turn their heads straight ahead and focus on the Imperials just standing there. Martín, however, doesn't even look fazed by the question from the crowd. "I am glad you asked. Since you are now my people, it is my duty to prove that you will get to truly live free lives. General Schmidt, bring them all out."

"Yes, Governor. Bring out the **prisoners**!" The female general at his side says, screeching the last word so loudly that everyone involuntarily claps their hands over their ears.

"Geez, and I thought metal scrapping on metal was bad." Sander mutters once he pulls his hands off his ears.

However, he doesn't get to say another word as he watches as Martín steps aside and a chain of ten thick platforms with rows of small holes covering the surface fly out of the space behind him, maintaining their place on the edge of the stands. On each platform is two pairs of metal rods, with long chains to hold their beaten prisoners down. All of them are either members of the Grand Hutt Council, those who deal in slavery or other criminals. Leia can't help but notice that among the chained prisoners are Mama the Hutt who is alone on her platform, Jabba the Hutt's young son and a blue-skinned Toydarian with a very stubby black beard named Watto; at least, that was the name Anakin told her.

"As you can see, I am a man of my word. I know that these are the ones who beat you. They walk over you without consequence. They own your very lives, whether you are slaves or not. In fact, they often take the children from their mother's embrace and expect the child to do as their master pleases. Will you stand for that?" The people start booing in response, some of them even shouting foul insults at the captives in Huttese. All the while, Sander's eyes start narrowing in horror, as this speech is hitting too close to home for him. "Now." Martín shouts over the crowd, silencing them again. "Some of you may have noticed that the monstrosity who lead the Hutts, the evil Jabba, is not among today's prisoners. The scum of this galaxy managed to flee before our troops could apprehend him. But we will find him and bring him to justice. Right now, we will make do with them. General, show them what our justice feels like."

"Yes Governor." The woman replies then nods at one of the Navy troops. He nods back and lifts up a large hammer next to him, before smashing it against a nearby sheet of metal. It lets out an audible gong as it vibrates heavily, its sound carrying across the arena.

What happens next shocks everyone to the core. Each platform starts glowing brightly as the temperature starts rising higher and higher. All of the prisoners start screaming in pain, their muscles involuntarily twitching as they try to escape the searing heat. Jabba's son starts crying loudly in pain as the heat only gets even more intense, before brilliant orange flames rise 3 feet into the air. The crowd lets out an audible gasp of shock, shielding their eyes lightly from the bright light in front of them. One of the human slaves in the ground puts his hands down and a smile forms on his face. "Burn. Burn. Burn!" The people, catching on, begin chanting the word as well, occasionally throwing in curses again, over the screams of agony the prisoners are letting loose and the roaring flames before the screams start getting quieter before eventually silencing.

After a few more minutes of this massacre, the fires start reducing in height and eventually dying out and revealing the prisoners' corpses, burned so badly that parts of their charred flesh and muscle start peeling off to reveal the burnt bones and melted organs underneath. "Let them serve as a reminder that a new age has come!" Martín shouts, raising his hands into the air, "An age where slaves can finally be free to do as they wish and those who abuse that freedom to be brought to our divine justice! Let this day mark the last day the Hutt Clan reigns supreme. Today, we shall make a stand and make a difference in this galaxy!"

The people stop chanting and stare at their new governor for a long moment before one of the people in the crowd starts clapping. It increases in frequency and is quickly joined by other members of the crowd before every single civilian starts clapping loudly. Even the Navy officers join in and a few give shrill whistles in the process.

However, the 2 Jedi are far from happy at this announcement. Leia and Sander pull away from the wall, their faces ashen with shock, disgust at the Empire's barbarism, and horror as they continue to hear the cheers of the people. People who believe that Emperor Kadabra is their savior, and all of the civilians in the former Hutt Space will fight tooth and nail for what the Empire has done for them. It was the work of a true mastermind. "We need to get out of here." Leia whispers under her breath to her companion.

"Can't argue there." Sander mutters back, the words Martín said still ringing in his ears. Then before they left, Sander speaks up. "Before we leave, I just wanted to let you know that everything back there is why I refuse to call you master."

Leia looks right at her padawan, flashes of the crazed woman Salem and the violent death of her troops flashing through her mind for a few seconds before she mentally shakes her head. "I know." She whispers softly and is about to run across the buildings to return to the _Twilight_ , when they hear the sound of a gun clicking on.

The duo turns toward the familiar sound and nearly back up in surprise. Standing in front of them is a man in gleaming golden armor, a crossguard lightsaber at his side and a plasma pistol with a red scope on top of it in his hands. It is Agent Pennsylvania, and he looks like he's ready for combat. "Your move." He says, holding his pistol to Leia's face.

Leia stares down the barrel, shock on her face before it hardens considerably. "Give me your best shot."

Karel then pulls the trigger, and in the blink of an eye, Leia activates her lightsaber and deflects the blue plasma shot. Knowing that the sound of the pistol would attract unwanted attention, Leia and Sander begin running towards the edge of the building. They use the Force to leap high into the air, landing on the tarped roof of a cantina. The 2 Jedi keep on jumping into the air, barely dodging the blasts from the plasma pistol, as Pennsylvania follows close behind.

"There it is!" Sander says, pointing forward. All 3 of them are running out of buildings to leap to, and the _Twilight_ is sitting there, waiting for their arrival. Before the Jedi could say any more, Pernnsylvania sheathes his pistol, channels the Force into his arms and thrusts them forward.

Leia and Sander shout in surprise as they are pushed forward, falling out of sync with their stride and trip, causing them to fall off the edge of the last building in the village. They fall down many feet before landing on their faces. Leia is the first to sit up, massaging her face as it starts turning red from touching the scorching sand and turns around when Pennsylvanis crashes into the ground before her. He pulls out the crossguard lightsaber off his belt, and activates it. The black blade shoots out the top, with 2 smaller blades jutting out the sides. He jumps into the air and tries to swing downward, but Sander recovers in time, activates his lightsaber and blocks the attack. Using a surprising amount of strength, he pushes upward and throws Pennsylvania off-balance. Sander then charges forward, trying to stab the agent in the stomach, but his opponent blocks the attack and head-butts the boy in the head. As Sander staggers back from the blow, clutching his nose, Leia uses a Force push on her opponent. Her opponent was so concentrated on charging toward her padawan that he failed to evade the telekinetic blast.

He slams into the building's wall, the lightsaber falling out of his hand. Before he can so much as let out a groan, Leia runs right at him and gives him a punch…right in his nether regions.

Pennsylvania lets out a final moan before losing consciousness. The Knight, satisfied with her accomplishment, runs over to Sander as he lowers his hand from his nose. "Are you alright?"

He looks up and nods. "I will be when my nose stops throbbing."

Leia smiles at him. "Good. We need to get out of here with him." She then uses the Force to rip the agent out of the wall, his lightsaber floating into the air as well. "He knows how our enemy works. We need him alive."

Sander simply nods and they start running towards the _Twilight_ as the Imperial Navy troops finally reach their position. They raise their plasma rifles and open fire on the Jedi as they keep on running. Many of the shots get within a foot of hitting them, and sometimes, they even need to use their still-active lightsabers to deflect the blasts. Suddenly, the freighter's engines start roaring to life and the rear laser turret turns around and fires.

Many of the shots miss, but they do send the troops scrambling to the ground for cover. One unfortunate soldier receives a red laser to the chest and he goes flying back a whole yard before collapsing dead. The hatch opens up just as Leia and Sander reach the freighter. The second they step onto the ramp, it starts lifting up and the _Twilight_ returns to fly up into the air. "Get us out of here!" Sander shouts, holding onto the wall for dear life so as to not fall over again.

"I'm working on it." Anakin shouts from his station, then activates the freighter's hyperdrives. Within seconds, the _Twilight_ enters hyperspace and escapes the now-Imperial-occupied planet of Tatooine.

Anakin leans back in his seat, letting out a sigh of relief, and puts the ship on auto-pilot before walking down the corridor to see the 2 Jedi and their still-unconscious prisoner. Anakin freezes in place, glaring down at their captive. "You." He mutters, recognizing the agent from the time they met on Corellia. What he said to Anakin still confuses the Jedi to this very day. "We need to get some stun cuffs on him."

"Okay." Leia says, using the Force to pull a pair of stun cuffs from a side room and clicks them onto his arms. Seconds later, Pennsylvania lets out a long moan of pain before his head rocks back and forth.

"Well, look who decided to wake up." Anakin says, leaning against the wall as he stares down.

Pennsylvania just lets out another moan. "Huh? Where am I?"

"You are about to be put to justice for everything you have done." Leia answers coldly, glaring at him.

The agent sits straight up and tries to move his hands, before noticing that he is in a pair of stun cuffs. "Oh, you have got to be kidding me." He then turns around and notices the 3 Jedi standing there, glaring at him. "Look. Just because I am following the Emperor's orders doesn't mean that I am following him with my heart and soul."

Anakin scoffs at the statement. "So, what? You're just going to abandon the winning side and help us out?"

Through the Force, Leia can sense that the agent is utilizing a lot of self-discipline to not attack Anakin right now. "I'm not the only one. I know dozens of people who are wanting to defect from Kadabra's evil ways. Right now, time is of the essence. I know many things the Emperor is planning and if they come to fruition, none of you will survive this war."

Anakin and Leia look at each other then use the Force to probe the agent's mind. To their shock, they don't sense any form of malicious intent or secret agendas; he spoke nothing but the truth. "Alright then." Leia responds hesitantly. "When we return to Corusant, we will bring you before the Jedi High Council. There, you will tell us in greater detail who these people are and if they will be willing to help us."

The rest of the trip passes in silence, with Leia and Anakin remaining at the front of the freighter to make sure they are not intercepted by the Empire or Separatists while Sander stays with Pennsylvania to make sure he doesn't try to flee.

After a while, the freighter pulls out of hyper-space and Corusant looms before them. Sander then gets up and walks to the front of the ship. "Welcome back." He mutters under his breath.

* * *

 **8:30 am Gaia Time**

 **Jedi High Council Chamber**

 **Jedi Temple**

 **Corusant**

* * *

The doors leading to the Jedi High Council swing wide open and the 4 Force-wielders walk out of the cramped space and towards the circular Jedi High Council.

As they expected, every seat is being occupied by a Jedi Master, half of them flickering since they are merely holographic projections. "Welcome back." Obi-Wan Kenobi says, leaning back in his seat. His eyes widen in shock when he notices a still-shackled Pennsylvania walking in the small triangular his escorts are making. "And…who is this?" His voice is laced with suspicion, considering lulling out his lightsaber and attacking in the event of an attack.

"Ah, yes. This is Agent Pennsylvania. He used to work for… **him**. But he defected to our side after what happened on Tatooine." Anakin says, reliefed that he now has a reason to never return to the desert planet.

The Jedi Masters look at each other, shocked about this change of events and a little alarmed by the change of events. "What happened on Tatooine?" Ki-Adi-Mundi asks, already dreading the answer.

This time, Leia steps forward and addresses the crowd. "Hutt Space is no more. Somehow, Kadabra managed to capture the entire Hutt Grand Council with the exception of Jabba. They were all executed along with many other slave-owners and criminals. All of that sector has enthusiastically joined Kadabra and his Empire."

That sends the entire Council into a state of shock. Without those hyperspace lanes, there is no chance for the Republic to aid the rebel cells in the Outer Rim. Right now, they are on their own. Windu breaks from the moment of depression the quickest and looks at the ex-Imperial Agent. "What is your name?" He asks.

"Karel Allusis." He responds quickly, standing briskly as he says his name.

Windu raises an eyebrow at his surname, but doesn't press the matter. "And why did you decide to betray Darth Kadabra and his armies?"

Karel looks down at the ground, his face still hidden underneath his helmet but the sadness still radiates from him considerably. "I saw how far they would go for peace. For a while, I followed the Emperor's orders without question along with my fellow agents because we saw how planets that have mostly been left to fend for themselves have prospered under the Empire's rule. They cared for the middle man; they cared for those who were cast aside during your war with the Separatists. But then I saw the truth of Emperor Kadabra. He is a monster; more than you can possibly imagine. It was the lengths he went to ensuring peace reigned in the galaxy that made me realize that he needs to be stopped. And if you don't stop him now, you will all suffer the same fate as Csilla."

The Jedi look at each other, confusion on his face. "Heard of Csilla, I have not. Elaborate, can you?" Yoda asks, leaning forward and staring at Karel intently.

Karel lets out a long sigh, then looks back up. Yoda could sense that Karel is deeply scared of what happened. "Csilla was the home-world of the Chiss, a species like humans except they had blue skin and had some semblance of thermal tracking. Kadabra tried to set up an alliance with the Chiss, but things went south and the 2 were at war for a brief time. Until Kadabra took it upon himself to end it. We were outnumbered 5 to 1 in the space battle, but the Emperor had a hole drilled to the core of the planet and demonstrated his greatest feat of all." Karel then looks down at his hands, which start shaking slightly from the experience. "He sent a prototype nuclear missile into the heart of the planet. Eight billion Chiss, almost three-fourths of their whole species, lived on that planet. None of them survived when Kadabra used his mastery of the Dark Side to make the planet blow itself up. My friend died in that explosion."

Once again, the Jedi Council sits there dumbfounded. At this point, they are completely horrified by what they are capable of. "How did we not sense such an event?" Kenobi asks, his face turning a faint green.

"Because Csilla is deep within the Unknown Regions. A place so drenched in the Dark Side I'm not surprised you didn't sense it. It is also where the Emperor's home-world is. A planet in the Helios System called Gaia."

"So…if we send an invasion fleet to capture Gaia and kill Emperor Kadabra, then all of this will end?" Anakin asks, staring at Karel with a flabbergasted look.

Karel nods. "It won't be that simple. You see, while you may conquer Harrison's home-world, you can't truly kill him. He made himself immortal."

"No way!" Sander shouts, staring at Karel with shock. "There is absolutely no way for anyone to make themselves immortal!"

"Actually, there is." Karel responds, maintaining everyone's attention. "On the Emperor's home-world, there used to be a whole society of Force-users who called themselves witches and wizards. However, over the years, they forgot their roots and branched off to their own radical form of utilizing the Force. In many technical ways, they were inferior to a common Jedi or Sith so Kadabra had the whole society burned to its core before his Empire was even formally established four years ago. I actually know several people on Gaia who are survivors of the Great Fire, as its being called. Anyway, while they had many inferiorities and their egos could use some deflating, their radical knowledge of the Force has shattered many barriers you wouldn't dare breach. Harrison Peverell used some forbidden arts of that knowledge to perform a ritual so evil I don't want to talk about it."

At this point, the Jedi Council couldn't be more disturbed by what the Emperor has done in his time before he rejoined the galaxy. "Right now, we are struggling to hold what ground we have left and the we just lost a major ally." Windu says, holding his hands together as he leans forward. "Our priority now is to capture the heart of this empire and use that victory to end the Sith Empire before it can cause any more harm to the galaxy. Now, will you excuse us? We need to discuss how we will handle this situation."

"Of course, masters. Thank you for your time." Karel says quickly, bowing in respect. Leia also bows in respect, and although Sander and Anakin follow suite, it is much more forced. "One last thing before we leave. Because of my high status, I am allowed to hear many rumors about is going on behind the scenes. Recently, I have heard stories that a prototype war machine code-named Thanatos Infinity, is being created and is a month away from completion. If it is equipped with half the weapons I have heard of, it will only spell doom."

The quartet then turn around and walk back to the elevator, allowing it to close and the elevator takes them back to the base levels. Once the elevator opens up, Anakin walks off. "Where are you going?" Karel asks.

"Going to get some training done. It's better than meditating while the Council tells us who will go on the most important mission in this war." Anakin responds as he continues walking away.

Leia lets out a long sigh, then pulls a cigarra out of her Jedi robes and puts it in her mouth. "I'm going to make sure he doesn't get hurt." She then uses the Force to light the tip on fire and puffs out a small ball of smoke. "Well, have fun." She then follows Anakin with a thin line of smoke trailing behind.

Karel stares at Leia with a baffled look under his helmet. "Is she…"

"Yes." Sander says quickly. "I don't like that habit either, but hey, it's not like I rule her life. Trust me, you'll ignore it after a while. So, you want to see what I have going on in my place?"

Karel shrugs. "Sure, why not?" The duo then walks down another long corridor, past several Jedi Knights who stare at Karel and whisper among each other until they reach the quarters where the padawans live. Sander walks towards a particular door and waves his hand in front of the door. It slides upward and they walk in. The room is rather small, with a single window that overlooks Corusant and a bed in the corner. A large stack of datapads are lining the wall and pieces of various blasters along with a plasma rifle taken from dead Imperial Army trooper are lying at the foot of his bed that was painted completely white with a black underbelly and some grey parts.

"Sorry for the mess. I wasn't expecting company." Sander says, using the Force to close the door behind him. Karel looks around at the room.

"I've seen worse." Karel remarks then picks up a plasma rifle. What's interesting is that the barrel is wider in diameter and has parts from a Republic blaster rifle incorporated into it. "How did you get your hands on a whole plasma rifle. Aren't these coveted?"

"How do you get anything regarding Kadabra and his scum? I stole it." Sander responds, then looks up. "That came wrong. I managed to pull the rifle from an Imperial trooper's corpse after the attack on Devaron without anyone knowing about it. Except for my mentor, because she's awesome that way."

Karel raises an eyebrow at that statement. "You know, I've been wondering something. Why don't you call Leia your master?"

Sander's nose flares slightly. "What, and make me think that I am just like those former slaves on Tatooine? Think again."

Karel nods in understanding. "Fair enough." Then sets the modified blaster on the bed and takes off his helmet. As the war as progressed, Karel decided that he liked shorter hair so he cut it so his blue hair only stretches down to the back of his head.

The Young One stares at Karel with a surprised look. "You…look different than I imagined."

"What, you think I'm not ruggedly handsome or look like a giant walking tumor?"

Sander looks a little confused. "What's a tumor?"

"You'll learn about that later in life." Karel responds quickly then looks over the rifle. He half-expected it to just be a bunch of scrap metal thrown together but its parts actually work together with a scope from a blaster rifle on the top for seeing long distances. "I have to say, this is an interesting weapon. Did you make it?"

"Of course, I made it. Took the best parts of my old blaster rifle and put it on this. Although I had to get the barrel custom-made so the amount of firepower I wanted per shot would be possible. Yes, I like to build stuff in my spare time and I have personally found that the heavier shots are more my style."

"I see." Karel responds then then walks to the pile of datapads. "Do you like reading?"

"Heck yeah. I read lots of the really old stories regarding ancient wars and weapons in my spare time. I don't know, I have just found that I have a strange affinity for death."

"That's…nice." Karel responds, a little disturbed by the last sentence.

Many hours pass as the duo continue talking about various things before the door slides open. Anakin and Leia step in, along with Obi-Wan Kenobi as Sander quickly hides the blaster under his bed. "So, what does the Council have to say?" Sander asks, staring at Kenobi with an interested look in his eye.

"The Council has agreed that an immediate invasion of Gaia will be underway and we shall discuss with the Supreme Chancellor how many starcruisers we can spare for the invasion. As of this moment, we will be the Jedi who lead the attack, along with Depa Billaba, Caleb Dume and Master Windu."

Sander stares at Kenobi like he has lobsters crawling out of his ears. "Gee. Is that all?"

* * *

 _AN:_ Well, this was one of my lamer chapters, I think. Don't worry; things are about to get really good. So yeah, let the beginning of the end commence. And oh boy, do I have some crazy ideas in mind. In case the last scene rings any bells, I have a friend who introduced me to Metal Gear Solid 1. Hey, I grew up with Mega Man so I never had much exposure to the Metal Gear franchise! Anyway, he showed me the game, I looked up the types of Metal Gears there are in the franchise, and they all look so cool I decided to take a spin on creating my own. Enter Thanatos Infinity.

Now to the Q&A:

CloakedAssasin: I am truly sorry you feel that way. I do this writing for fun and nothing else.

Jigga51: I do admit now that there were some things I could have done better, but the thing is that Darth Kadabra would not ever underestimate Albus Dumbledore. Which is why he needed to push Fleur to the Dark Side and manipulate her thoughts without being seen to do so. If he did it even a little too much, Dumbledore would know instantly something's up and Harrison's end goals would be at great risk. For Thrawn…I also admit that I could have explained that better. Kadabra respected Thrawn and wanted him in his military, except for the Emperor's acceptance of 1 cold fact. People jump to conclusions all the time. And Kadabra is right; people have jumped to the conclusion that Thrawn brought his people to an Imperial city and is responsible for dozens of Imperial deaths. But thanks to Thrawn's impression on Kadabra, the Emperor brought down the lightest meaningful sentence possible. And temporary banishment to Wild Space is paradise compared to what happened to the Hutts or being trapped with the crazies in Sundari.

MOR the Divine Being: Well, the Force fluctuation produced from the Chiss's mass genocide produced enough energy for Kadabra's Sith Knights to find the Star Forge. Even after all those years, there should be at least some semblance of Dark Side in the Star Forge's ruins. Given how powerful it was. I never outright said it, but I will introduce it real soon.

Guest Reader: Well, I don't think there's any such thing as a perfect fusion. But I still thank you very much for saying that.

jc: I admit that Surge might be an odd choice given his background, and you are right; the Trireme captain was equally suitable to becoming the new _Black Phoenix_ captain. But Kadabra picked Surge to be captain since he had the guts of charging into the enemy lines as well. Since Surge's courage and leadership allowed him to drive the Chiss ground forces out of the city, he became the new captain.

Anyway, see you all next time as the invasion fleet is assembled and the end can truly begin.

PS: I have read your comments, and I agree that Darth Kadabra is a rather silly name. But honestly, when I started creating this series, it sounded way cooler than its competition, like Darth Lucifer and Darth Nero, just to name a few. Yeah, I admit that I'm not the best at coming up with names.

Well, see ya'll then.

-sonicXben

PPS: I am sorry if I offended anyone who is reading this chapter. I am taking a history class and was inspired by some things I read in it. Even if I was pretty horrified. Just as a heads up, I might have moments in other chapters when I might put in something that offends certain people. When you do, PLEASE keep in mind that this is Fanfiction and nothing more.


	27. Chapter 27: Beginning of the End

**November 20** **th**

 **2000**

 **11:29 am Gaia Time**

 **Director Draco Malfoy's Office**

 **Imperial Science Department Headquarters**

 **Artemis**

* * *

 **3** **rd** **Person POV:**

* * *

Darth Drakon, formerly known as Draco Malfoy, hums quietly as he sits in his overstuffed green chair behind his mahogany desk and waits patiently for his personal assistant, Dr. Aiyanna. She is one of his most trusted scientists and has proven time and time again that she knows what is expected of her and more than surpasses them.

After another minute of patience, the door lets out an audible buzz. Drakon reaches out with the Force, and sure enough, he can sense Aiyanna is on the other side. He reaches under his desk and pushes a hidden silver button. The door lets out an audible click and the door slides open, allowing the female scientist to walk in. "Director Drakon. Here's the reports you requested." She says, walking towards him and setting a thick manila envelope on his desk.

"Thank you, Doctor." Drakon responds, then sets the envelope down on his desk and looks back up at his second-in-command. "How are our new scientists adjusting?" He looks up as he asks that question, curious. A week ago, a dozen Kaminoan scientists had decided that they were tired of being treated like trash at the hands of their superiors, the clones they create, and even the Jedi who have been stationed on the vital Republic planet. So impressed with the Empire and the rewards they have reaped for their actions to improve the lives of the oppressed, they managed to hi-jack a transport that was meant to return to Corusant and get picked up by an Imperial patrol party. Once they were brought back to Dantooine and interrogated in the presence of a Sith Knight to make they aren't lying, they were allowed to work with Nala Se on the numerous projects Drakon has only just started overseeing.

"Very well, Director. They are quite intrigued by what we are doing here and have taken particular interest in Nala Se's new Mark 3 Adaptors. Nala Se sends her apologizes for not being able to make it; she believes that she needs to continue working with our recruits and her projects."

"Very well then. Is there anything else not on this file that I need to know about?"

Aiyanna shifts around slightly, and the Force-Sensitive can sense anxiety boiling up in her. "It's about that gold ring that you've been wanting me to track since Empress Kione gave it to Agent Pennsylvania months ago. It showed that Agent Pennsylvania was held on Corusant for several days before being moved to another system. We tracked it to the Takodana system and it has stayed there for almost a week."

Drakon leans back in his seat, his frustration getting the better of him so he lets out an angry sigh. It looks like the Emperor's suspicions were more on the mark than even Drakon would have liked to admit. "I see. Then as of this moment, Karel Allusis is officially our enemy and must be exterminated on site."

Aiyanna gasps in surprise. "Director. Are you sure about that? I've heard that the Takodana system is one of the Republic's most important rallying point. I would think that the planet would have a secret prison because of all that security."

Drakon leans forward in his seat, his eyes narrowing. "And how did you know that the Takodana is a Republic rallying point?"

Aiyanna blushes slightly. "My brother mentioned it to me once. He's a deep cover employee of ICE."

"ICE. Another set of egos running around." Drakon mutters, leaning back in his seat. The Imperial Central Espionage department is the Sith Empire's successor in providing intelligence ever since it was brought to light that Drakon's former Lieutenant, Dr. Spencer, was pursuing ulterior motives, and half of the agents were proven to be loyal only to Spencer, some going as far as planning ways to assassinate the Emperor himself. As if that wasn't enough, Drakon personally discovered that a few of the agents also worked for the Mafia and a member of the Order of the Phoenix by the name of Seamus Finnigan had also infiltrated the agency. It was through Seamus's torture and mind probing by Herpo that the Order's hidden base was revealed and many Order members were killed in the resulting ambush, with less than half their members managing to escape. The agents suspected to be a part of Spencer's conspiracy were recalled to Gaia and after the suspicions were confirmed, they were swiftly executed while the clean agents were re-organized into Imperial Central Espionage, or ICE. Not wanting to stay in a station with such an incident hanging over his head, Draco had himself re-assigned to become the new Director of the Imperial Science Department while former Vice Admiral Karath took the post; and the rest is history.

Draco then continues. "I believe that Mr. Allusis has betrayed us because he has done many questionable things before and after his rather colorful career. For instance, how would a 17-year old boy with no training in the ways of the Sith manage to not only uncover an attack by the entire rebel cell from Portugal and kill them? Then there are his evening walks I have heard about from Admiral Herpo. Those walks leave too much time floating around that we don't know how he spends. Then for a while, he mellows out on suspicious activity until it picks back up with the incident on Tatooine; when he volunteers to go alone to oversee the Hutt's execution, with Jedi slipping past our patrols. No, the real reason I believe he has betrayed us is the destruction of Csilla. According to our files, Agent Alaska died in the explosion. I am starting to believe that Mr. Allusis is not the only one who seeks to avenge his fellow agent's death."

Aiyanna stares at her Director, listening to his explanation intently. "I see now. I also would like to add that all of the shards of the Star Forge have been discovered and their relocation to the Csilla Asteroid Field has started."

Drakon lets a wide grin form on his face, an expression that scares the female scientist a little. "Good. The natural darkness of the Unknown Regions, coupled with the darkness created from the brutal deaths of billions will more than cloak the Star Forge's presence once it is fully restored. Once the new class of Sith Knights finish, they will be deployed to that sector and ensure the full repair of the ancient station. How goes the production of your project you've been working on for years?"

The lightly-tanned woman feels a smile forming on her face as well, pride radiating from her. "Wonderfully. In fact, my department finished the weapon months ahead of schedule."

"You have done well, Doctor. Since you designed this weapon, I believe you should have the honor of sending it to the battlefield. Take your weapon and dominate the Takodana system for our Empire. While you're at it, tie up the loose ends. You are dismissed." With that, Drakon pulls the manila envelope towards him and opens it up, flipping through the pages and taking in the details of the many projects that the Imperial Science Department have been working on for years. While a strong military and the Force are wonderful allies to the Sith Empire, even the Emperor acknowledged long ago that the ever-changing knowledge of science is one of the Empire's greatest attributes; it is certainly different from the stagnant view of technology the rest of the galaxy has. One report that really caught Drakon's eye detailed small goblin units setting up miniature mining settlements on 2 distant planets; designated Ahch-To and Crait respectively. From these planets, hundreds of kyber crystals are being mined up by the day for exporting to Gaia. According to the report, the crystals particularly from Ahch-To are unusually powerful, especially a decently-sized white crystal and twin yellow crystals. The goblins believe that the crystals are somehow being affected by the strange ruins of a temple on one of the islands, protected by strange creatures that bear an oddly strong resemblance to nuns.

As Aiyanna walks toward the door and it swings open, she stops in place. "Director." She states, causing Draco to look up from the detailed and fascinating papers. "If I may be so bold as to ask, but what are we going to do about Dr. Spencer's creation?"

His eyes narrow dangerously as he remembers the Mark 2 Adaptors Dr. Spencer was creating; a new breed that would have been smarter, faster, stronger, and much more independent than the models that were made when Nala Se first joined the Empire. Only two of them were made before Spencer was uncovered and executed. "We wait. The thing about it is that I can't sense its presence in the Force and its creativity has made it elusive. But as much as it wants to believe it, it is not perfect. Roland Crowley will make a mistake and when it does, we will use Roland's twin to end it."

Aiyanna nods one last time before walking out the door and closing the door. Drakon leans back in his seat and is about to go over the reports again when the comms line starts beeping.

"Oh, give me a break." He mutters before tapping the crystal sphere in the center of his desk. To his immense shock, Emperor Kadabra himself appears on the screen. "My Emperor. This is a surprise."

"It is, Darth Drakon. Now, I have something of vital importance to share with you." Darth Kadabra responds, his volcanic orange eye glowing with malicious intent.

* * *

 **8:25 pm Gaia Time**

 **Galactic Republic Base Alpha**

 **Takodana**

* * *

"Blast. How long is this going to last?" Anakin asks incredulously from under the cover, watching as a bolt of lightning arches across the sky.

For the last week, the Republic has used the distant system of Takodana as a major base to rally the 80 Republic warships Chancellor Palpatine agreed to pull off the front lines of the battlefield. While many Jedi Masters are still protesting against this action, many more Jedi and even the Chancellor believe that such a number is necessary if a surprise attack on Kadabra's home-world stands a remote chance of succeeding. As if the solemn atmosphere about the atmosphere wasn't enough, it has been raining non-stop all across the planet for two days without wavering.

Anakin shakes his head slightly and walks back into the old wooden house. The farm had been abandoned long ago after its owner mysteriously disappeared, and the main building had been converted to a temporary command center. As Anakin walks back inside and shuts the door behind him, he notices Captain Rex, Commander Cody, and the band of Force-sensitives that would take charge in this large-scale invasion.

These Force-sensitives also include Depa Billaba, Caleb Dume, Mace Windu, Obi-Wan Kenobi, Karel Allusis, Leia Haggar, and Sander Blanco. The latter is sitting in the corner of the room, curled in a ball and holding his brown cloak close with its hood pulled up, and shivering slightly from the bitter cold while the rest of the Force-sensitives are standing around the table with the clones.

"Finally, the Grand Invasion Fleet is on schedule and should be ready to depart in a matter of hours." Admiral Tarkin is saying over the comms table, his hands behind his back.

"Thank you, Admiral." Obi-Wan says once the report is finished. "Now, once all of the warships have cleared the planet, have them make the jump to Polis Massa, then make small but precise hyperspace jumps throughout the Outer Rim. Make sure to avoid systems that are known for their strong Imperial presence. According to our intel, the Esfandia and Bakura systems have numerous comm stations, patrol ships, and many other measures to keep any uninvited guests out."

"General, if I may. I suggest that we cut a straight path through those systems, like the advance team will." Tarkin responds, an almost emotionless expression on his face. "It would cut much time off the fleet's journey and we can cut the heart out of these savages before they can have a chance to fight back."

"I acknowledge your concern, Admiral." Windu replies, "But I agree with General Kenobi. The Emperor is cunning and is known for making victories from certain defeat. Especially after Devaron. Stealth will be our greatest asset, and considering how confident many members of the Sith Empire are, I don't believe they would expect us to take a longer route."

Tarkin drops his facade, and a slight frown starts forming. "It's a bold move, Generals. According to my estimations, if we follow your plan, our journey will take roughly three days. Because of the numerous jumps and inability to fully fuel the fleet, when we reach the Helios system, we will not have the option to escape to any Republic systems." Rex says, looking at each member of the group.

"Which means that we have to either kill Kadabra's troops or die trying." Sander says hoarsely, lifting his head up slightly to stare at the clone captain before giving another shiver and coughing lightly. He has been miserable for the last two days, having the unfortunate luck of getting caught in the middle of the storms as they started, interrupting a particularly brutal training session. As a result, he had contracted a nasty cold and barely left the cabin ever and has reached the point hasn't eaten much in a long time. While the others have wanted to help Sander, they haven't had much time since they are overseeing the organization of the invasion and none of them have much time to give him the necessary medicine; it's really a miracle no one is suffering from colds as well.

"Aptly put, sir." Rex says, "That means that when the fleet arrives at Gaia, we will have no choice but to begin the invasion and attack it with everything we have."

"Well, then we need to arrive at Gaia and make your job easier." Anakin says half-jokingly, walking towards the table and looking at the miniature map of the galaxy. On the far side of the map, there is a glowing red dot that marks the location of the Helios System. "Well, Admiral, I think that our plan is certainly solid. I think that for the advance team to reach the destination before the Invasion Fleet, we will have to take the Nubian we recovered from Mandalore to pass through any security measures they might have."

"And hope that the access codes on your Nubian are still valid. Otherwise it will be the shortest siege in the entire war." Cody adds, his helmet off and revealing his grim expression.

"Well, we've already come too far so we will have to hope for the best." Leia answers, leaning against the table and looking at Karel. "Hey. Since you're the one who told us everything you know about how our enemy is structured, do you think we could just take a path and cut straight through the Empire and arrive at Gaia?"

Karel looks at the table, his expression a million miles away. "No, I don't believe so. We might get lucky and bypass the monitors around the Esfandia and Bakura systems, but Gaia is another story. Its moon, Artemis, is a massive base for creating warships. We will need to hijack a transport from the military base on that station. Let's just say right now, I won't feel bad about stealing any Imperial property, especially if it belongs to the ISD."

"I see." Tarkin says, his holographic image returning to the center. "Now, I believe…" He is interrupted when the turns around and addresses a deck officer behind him. "Really? Very good." Tarkin then turns back around. "Generals, I just received word that the Invasion Fleet are loading the last supplies and ready for departure."

"Excellent news. Admiral, deploy the fleet now and make sure they follow the plan." Anakin speaks up, smiling slightly.

"Will do, General." With that, Tarkin's transmission cuts out and the comm table's lights go out.

"Well, that was something." Caleb Dume says, speaking up for the first time during the meeting. "But…I can't help but feel like something's not right."

"Speak for yourself." Sander says from his chair before sniffling heavily. "At least you don't feel like bantha crap right now."

"No, Caleb's right." Depa Billaba says, looking around warily with a hand reaching for her lightsaber. "I sense something. Not the presence of a Sith, but something else. Something potentially more dangerous."

Before anyone can question what they think of these disturbing ideas, the comms table lets out another series of beeps. Obi-Wan, confused, presses a button on the side of the table. Everyone is so concentrated on that no one notices Sander stand up and walk out of the house to look outside.

The second the table re-activates; the sounds of screaming clones can be heard. "What is going on?" Depa asks, anxiety in her voice once Admiral Tarkin runs onto the screen.

"It's the Empire! They're here." He says, surprise in his voice.

"What?" Karel asks, shock and horror written on his face. "How did they find us?"

"I don't know. Yes, Lieutenant?" He asks, turning around to look at someone who isn't appearing on the screen. His face then turns from anxiety to shocked. "Are you sure? Run planetary scans again and start evacuating all Republic personnel." Tarkin then turns around. "Something's wrong. Our scanners are picking up only 3 Drakkar warships."

"...Excuse me, Admiral?" Anakin asks, confusion on his face, along with everyone else's faces. Usually, Kadabra sends a dozen Drakkars heavily escorted by two dozen light warships whenever a new planet is being conquered.

"That can't be right." Karel says indignantly. "The Empire goes out of their way to not underestimate their opponents. They wouldn't send so few ships unless they had some…thing…" He trails off and his eyes widen in horror.

"Go on. Unless what?" Obi-Wan asks, dreading what he will hear.

Karel just leans forward and grips the table. "God, please let me be wrong. I have heard rumors that the ISD has been creating a super-weapon since its founding, but according to my contact, it shouldn't be ready for deployment for another 2 months."

"And what exactly is this super-weapon?" Anakin asks.

"I don't know exactly. What I do know is that if it is complete, it will bring a new level of warfare to your Corusant."

The Jedi look at each other, the tension rising in the room. "Admiral, do not engage the enemy. Make your primary objective to evacuate as many ships from the planet." Windu says, then shuts off the comms table. He then gets out his lightsaber and cuts the table in half.

"Why did you do that?" Caleb asks, shocked at this action.

"Because this is war. We can't allow the Empire to have access to our communications systems." Windu responds, then de-activates his lightsaber and sheathes it. "Right now, we need to ensure the closest cruiser leaves the planet safely."

"I think that's a good idea." Sander replies, causing everyone to look up and see Sander walk back into the cabin, his hood down to reveal his pink nose and terrified face. "You need to see this."

Before Leia can ask what Sander meant, the ground below their feet starts shaking violently. Caleb is caught off-guard by the shaking and falls onto his ass. "What was that?" Anakin asks, getting out his lightsaber.

Meanwhile, Karel is staring out the window with a stunned expression. "Guys, if half the things about Thanatos Infinity are true, we have only one way to come out of this fight alive."

"What might that be?" Windu asks, wanting to hear some good news for a change.

"Run. Get the commanders to the last cruiser before it leaves then we can get the hell out of here."

Just then, the ground below their feet starts shaking slightly again, smaller in magnitude but frequently. Deciding it would be best to leave, the group runs out of the cabin one by one and into the stormy outside world. The last ones out of the door are Rex and Cody, who put on their helmets before following.

The ground beneath their feet is muddy and thunder crackles in the air. What is maintaining everyone's attention is that something extremely large is walking towards them, two beams of yellow light cutting through the darkness and rain. Without needing to be told to do so, the entire group simultaneously turns around and starts running as fast as they possibly can. Leia is in the back of the group, holding Sander in her arms so he wouldn't fall behind.

Thanatos Infinity lets out another mechanical roar before charging forward at top speeds, each step it takes shaking the ground slightly. It then lifts up its right arm and a massive chain gun emerges. The gun then points towards the fleeing Jedi and clones and lets loose round after round. The armor-piercing shells impact the ground all around them, making the ground explode and rain wet dirt.

"This is certainly making my day interesting." Obi-Wan says, holding an arm over his face as mud rains down on him.

Rex looks behind him, and he gets an idea. It fills him with deep guilt, but he knows it is the only way if anyone is going to survive. He lifts up his right arm and presses several buttons on his private comm link. It lets out a series of beeps before the line flares to life and the voice of a clone trooper can be heard. "Captain, we need to get going! The Empire has started to attack the planet and all transmissions to the fleet are being jammed. We need to leave now!"

"We are under attack by a weapon created by the Empire. Unload 5 AT-TEs and have them unload their primary cannons onto this scrap heap!"

"Yes, Captain!" The clone replies then the line cuts out.

"There!" Cody shouts, getting knocked off-balance for a brief moment as he barely dodges another blast by the chain gun blast. He then points toward the open Republic Venator, where five Republic tanks are marching down the platform. The Jedi continue running towards the nearby black Nubian, none of them stopping for a second.

But no matter how fast they run, Thanatos Infinity continues gaining ground on them and it lifts up its left arm with the intention of slashing its prey to pieces. Before it can get that chance, the five AT-TEs finish walking off the cruiser and start opening fire upon the armored battle tank. As they do so, the two clone officers turn around to look at the Jedi. "Thank you, Generals. May the Force be with you on your journey."

"You too Rex." Anakin responds, saluting Rex crisply. The blue-armored clone captain salutes back before running onto the Republic warship, closely followed by Cody.

"Now, let's scrap this thing." Windu growls, getting out his lightsaber and turning around to see the AT-TEs still firing upon Thanatos.

"I don't think we will have to worry about it, Master. There's no way it can take 5 heavy cannon blasts simultaneously." Anakin says, also getting out his lightsaber. His confidence is shattered when the weapon lets out a series of whirs and charges forward, its headlight-like eyes trained on the main tanks. From the lights of the firing lasers that hit their mark, the Jedi could see the silhouette of their assailant. It is easily over 30 feet tall, and hunched over like a T-Rex. Within seconds, it reaches an AT-TE and lifts up a large and heavily armored leg before thrusting it downward, crushing the tank to pieces like a glass smashing on a tiled floor.

"It's withstanding 5 AT-TEs at once." Obi-Wan states, awe and fear in his voice. He then looks to the cruiser with its engines flaring to life and the open Nubian ready for take-off at a moment's notice. "Get to the ship. Anakin and I will hold it off!" Obi-Wan then activates his lightsaber, the blue blade hissing as the rain hits the blade. Anakin follows suite and they charge towards Thanatos Infinity. It lifts its chain gun arm and lets loose numerous shots at another AT-TE, making it explode in a ball of fire. The Jedi quickly close the distance and jump into the air before slashing their blades at the sleek black armor.

To Anakin's horror, the lightsaber crashes against the surface of Thanatos Infinity and just stops in place instead of slicing through like it normally does. "How?" He mutters, watching as the blade doesn't even warm up the armor. Before he can come up with a solution to this unexpected problem, he is knocked back by the left arm swinging around and just barely has time to throw his legs out and skid across the slick surface of the ground. Obi-Wan lands next to Anakin much harder, rolling on the ground before standing back up. "What is this thing made of?"

Obi-Wan stares up at the weapon before a horrible thought strikes him and the color drains from his face. "Blast. The Empire has control over Mandalore. They must have found a way to enhance mandalorian iron and coated the entire thing in it."

"Well, that's just great." Anakin says, then as he covers his face to hide against the rain, his eyes widening.

Thanatos Infinity holds its left arm over the last AT-TE and to the Jedi's horror, a hatch opens on top of the arm and a smaller arm with razor-sharp claws emerges and shoots forward. It penetrates the glass barrier of the last AT-TE and blood coats the sides of the glass barrier. As the last Republic tank collapses on the ground, splattering some mud, Thanatos lifts up the blood coated miniature arm and slams both arms into the ground, bracing itself as it remains on all fours.

Then, its mouth splits open in 4 different directions and a strange light starts coming from the mouth. What truly horrifies the Jedi is that this new weapon is pointed directly at the Republic cruiser as it lifts off the ground and starts picking up speed. "We need to stop this thing!" Anakin shouts, then de-activates his lightsaber then closes his eyes and lifts his hands up. Obi-Wan, immediately understanding what his former padawan is up to, does the same thing. Together, they form a massive Force Push that sends the head of Thanatos Infinity pivoting to the right. Seconds later, a missile launches itself from the weapons' mouth and flies straight forward, narrowly missing the Republic cruiser. Instead of celebrating, the Jedi watch in horror as the missile continues flying through the air, heading directly towards another Republic warship. Anakin then lifts his arms up, attempting to use the Force to steer the missile away from the Acclamator. But then he notices Infinity pointing its chain gun arm at the Jedi and firing. Obi-Wan uses the Force to make the heavy armor piercing round crash into the ground in front of them, throwing them both off their feet by the resulting explosion.

Anakin sits up and can only watch with wide eyes as the missile makes direct contact with the Acclamator. The result is a brief flash of light before it explodes in a massive ball of fire, completely vaporizing the Acclamator and causing a shockwave so intense it blows the Jedi back towards the Nubian's entrance, as well as heat their faces up considerably.

Even Thanatos Infinity starts to wobble a little, but remains on all fours so it doesn't get fall onto the side. It aims its head back at its original target, only to notice that the Acclamator has managed to escape to the atmosphere.

Before it can turn its head towards the two Jedi, a figure covered in long rain-soaked brown robes emerges from under the tree cover. "Hello, Skyguy." The figure says.

Anakin turns around and his eyes narrow in shock when he sees who it is. "Snips?" He then shakes his head as he hears the Nubians' engines flare to life. "We need to leave. Come with us."

She looks at the black Imperial ship warily but nods and quickly follows Anakin and Obi-Wan onto the ship as the ramp closes. Almost immediately, Leia lifts the Nubian off the ground and has the ship fly higher and higher into the air. Thanatos Infinity lets out another battle cry before bracing itself and preparing to fire a 2nd missile. "Get us out of here!" Ahsoka Tano shouts as she runs to the front of the Nubian while the black-as-night ship continues rising into the air, dodging to the left and right to avoid the heavy rounds zooming by.

"We can't. I don't have the calculations yet to make a precise jump to the Helios System. Unless… hang on." Leia then starts working on the controls on her right. It takes a few seconds, but then the console starts beeping. "Got you! Hang on, everyone!" Leia then pushes several buttons on the console on her right and starts speeding into the atmosphere.

As the Beamspace portal opens up and swallows the ship whole, she can only watch as the last Republic war ships enter hyperspace and escape while a few cruisers are hanging dead in space, destroyed by the ambush of a dozen Imperial light warships, pumping plasma shots into the wreckage and killing any survivors.

After a mere five seconds, the flashes of light end and the Nubian hangs dead in space. Leia then de-activates the engines and leans back in her seat. "Okay. We are so deep in empty space that I think we can take a breath. I need to talk with Karel."

"You mean the former Imperial agent?" Ahsoka asks, standing off to the side. "I've managed to hide within the underworld of Dantooine. Karel has already been branded a traitor of the Empire and are placing such a high bounty on his head that it makes a Jedi's bounty look petty."

Leia just stares at the ground, her breathing erratic after everything that has happened. "I see." Together, they walk out of the bridge and head towards the main body of the ship. The entire Jedi advance team are sitting on the ground, next to a single table in the corner. "Now, Sander, let's get you patched up before we begin our job."

She then walks towards her padawan, using the Force to summon a small silver vial before she pops it open and pulls out a pill. Then, using strength she didn't think she needed to use, forces Sander's mouth open and makes him swallow the pill. "Reminds me of the good old days." Ahsoka says, leaning against the wall and staring down with amusement on her face.

Her words startled the Jedi to look up, and many of the members are staring at her with stunned looks. "Ahsoka…" Anakin says, standing up. "How did you find us?"

"Well, Andui was my favorite place to lay low at since I do not exactly welcome in the zealous Republic systems anymore. It is also close enough to the Outer Rim so assisting those who try to rebel against the enemy is easy. If only breaking their holds on the systems was that easy. I heard rumors of the massive fleet massing outside the city so I decided to tag along. Good thing I did."

Anakin just stares at Ahsoka for a few seconds before smiling slightly. "Well, I'm glad to see you again."

"Yes, so am I. We need all the help we can get if our mission is to be a success." Obi-Wan states.

Ahsoka stares at Kenobi, confused. "What exactly are you planning?"

"Well, you can bring her up to speed on things." Karel states, standing up and walking off. "I need to prime my comm line so I can talk with some contacts I have on Gaia. I may not be…the biggest fan of any of them, but after everything that has happened to them, they will not betray us. If I don't tell them we're coming, then they will try and probably succeed in killing us and blowing up our corpses."

As Karel walks away, Sander looks at Karel's finger and his eyes widen. "Hey Karel, what is that?"

The blue-haired Force sensitive looks at his finger. The plain golden ring glinted against the artificial lights of the Nubian. "Empress Kione herself gave this to me when I saved her life a year ago. It was a ruse to weave myself into the Empire's deepest trenches, but I never expected to see things that have happened since that day."

"Sander?" Leia asks, looking at him confused.

The boy, however, just stares at the ruing with an emotionless look on his face. Windu also watches this action, wary as to what might happen. "Give it to me."

Those four words catch everyone off-guard, even Karel, but he just shrugs and pulls the ring off. He then gives it to Sander, whose face is already starting to lose the clamminess that was once there. The Young One looks the ring over for a few seconds before his face turns hard. He sets it down on the ground in front of him and closes his eyes. He starts lifting his hands up and pointing his fingers at it.

Leia, immediately realizing what is about to happen, shouts, "No!"

But it is too late. A concentrated rod of scarlet fire surrounds his hands before shooting forward and impacting the ring. It withstands the fire for several seconds before it starts melting into a pile of liquefied metal. Miraculously, the fire shoots into the air so as to warm up the bottom of the ship but not melt through it.

After another 10 seconds, Sander opens his eyes and lets out a breath, the fire dying out. A long moment of silence passes before Windu speaks up. "What are you doing! You could have gotten us all killed!"

Sander turns to stare at Windu, his infamously calm look on his face. "Oh, well I'm sorry for saving our lives. It's obvious that something tipped off our location to the Empire and since that ring came directly from someone who's known for her deceptions, even a fool can see that the ring could be a tracking device."

Windu glares at him, his usually stoic expression long gone. "You know what, Sander? I've just about had enough. You are condescending of the Jedi Code, disrespectful to many of the Masters, especially to me. Which is why after this mission, I will take charge of your training and show you why only through our ways will you become who you are meant to be."

Sander slams his fist on the table, his calm expression giving way to anger. The Jedi jump back, startled by this reaction, and Leia could have sworn she sees his eyes flash red for a second. "Who I am meant to be? Who do you think you are, my father? You think you can control my life and what I do? You know what, I am going to tell you something I've been meaning to say. I don't trust you. If I am lying on a battlefield, dying, and the only way I would live is if I trusted you, I still wouldn't do it." He takes a deep breath and stands up. "Mace Windu, you disappoint me." Sander then places his hands behind his back as he walks to the corner of the room and leans against the wall, closing his eyes.

The Jedi stare at the young boy as he gets some rest. He has always been stubborn of his beliefs, but that outburst was new to all of them. Windu just sits there, dumbstruck, and even Karel is stunned. "Well, this has been a nice reunion." Karel says, then gets up and walks off as well.

"There's no use in just sitting around. I am going to plug in the coordinates for the Helios system so we can be on our way. Karel, if you would come with me?" Leia asks, then she, Karel, and Anakin walk to the front of the Nubian and the two pilots get themselves seated. Karel positions himself so that he is directly in front of the controls and starts inputting the coordinates into the ship's systems.

After a few minutes, Karel steps back and the controls let out a series of beeps. "Good. I want to end this madness." Leia mutters before pushing the buttons near her and starts activating the ships' thrusters. The Nubian surges forward before the portal opens up, swallows the ship whole, and spits it back out.

"Okay. That's not something I see every day." Anakin states, staring at the scene with awe. They are directly facing the planet Gaia, with a single grey moon nearby. Even from this distance, they can see the massive fleet of ships docked on the moon, waiting for action.

"There's no way we will make it to Gaia without drawing attention. We need to use a ship from the ISD. Head to Artemis." Karel says, pointing to the moon base.

"Here goes nothing." Leia sighs, then steers the Nubian towards the moon. As they approach the base, the comms line next to Anakin starts beeping and a female voice can be heard.

"Unidentified ship, state your name and purpose or I will rip you a new one."

Anakin stares at the comms, suddenly grateful that he went through the ship's software during the break on Takodana, then pushes the button. "This is Nubian transport _Santa Carla_ reporting in. We are escorting Dr. Aiyanna back to the Imperial Science Department."

A brief pause ensues, but then the officer speaks up. "Very well. But I need to verify your credentials."

"Acknowledged. Transmitting access codes now." Anakin replies, then pushes another button and starts broadcasting the clearance codes. Leia and Karel simultaneously suck in a breath, hoping that the price they paid to get these codes are worth it.

A long minute passes, and just as Anakin is about to say something to ease the tension, the woman on the other end speaks up. "Nubian transport _Santa Carla_ , you are permitted for entry. Continue on our current path and proceed to Landing Pad 6."

The comm line crackles for a few seconds before going out. "Great. Some good news for a change." Leia says as she continues steering the ship towards the moon.

"I will tell the others that we will landing soon." Karel says, walking out of the bridge. As the Nubian arrives at Artemis and flies across the rocky surface to an opening in the ground, its entrance covered in red light, the two Jedi stare in awe at the scene around the hole. All across the surface of the planet, dozens of Triremes and Drakkars are in the middle of production, on the verge of deployment. The Nubian positions itself directly above the entrance before lowering itself down and ejecting the landing mechanisms. Within a minute, the ship sets down and stops moving.

"Nubian transport _Santa Carla_ , be prepared to receive a boarding party." The woman says over the comms line before it goes out once again.

The two Jedi get up and walk to the main body of the ship. The Jedi are all crouched in various hiding places, prepared to ambush the Imperials that are coming towards them. They join Obi-Wan under the wall just as the door slides open and the platform lowers itself to the landing platform. A man in a crisp black suit and hat that covers his face walks onboard, accompanied by four Imperial Security guards wearing thick black chest plates, arm and leg plates, and a white helmet that is pointed in the black and has a black square on the front. As they walk towards the back of the ship, Ahsoka jumps up and starts strangling the officer. She breaks his neck with ease and uses the Force to slam the four guards together. They never saw Ahsoka coming and were quickly knocked out.

"Nice." Karel says, then starts pulling the armor off the guards. "Okay, so what's the plan?"

"Well, I believe that we need to split up into two groups to secure a ship. Windu, you lead that group and get us a ride out of here. Karel, since you have knowledge of our enemy, you should lead a small team to establish your communications and let your contacts know we're coming." Obi-Wan says, standing up.

"I'll join you." Sander says, walking towards the guards. Windu glares slightly at Sander for that, but doesn't say anything.

"I'm coming too." Leia says, raising her hand. Obi-Wan just nods.

"Alright. Let's get going." Karel says, and together, the small group make their way out of the Nubian and towards the rectangular grey doorway in front of them. Kenobi then waves his hand in front of the door and it immediately slides open to reveal two passageways branching off in different directions. Following the Force's guidance, they turn to the left and come to an open elevator. They walk onboard the elevator and Leia waves her hand over the controls. The monitor beeps, a light above the monitor flashes green, and the doors close.

"Hello. Where would you like to go?" A different automated female voice asks.

"Imperial Science Department, Level 5." Obi-Wan says, noticing that according to the flashing lights on the side of the elevator, there are five levels that make up the science department, below an additional five levels of bunks for the Imperial Army's soldiers.

"Accepted." The voice responds, and the elevator starts going down at surprisingly rapid speeds. It keeps going for a whole minute before jolting to a stop. The doors slide open and they are greeted to a rectangular grey corridor, lined with stone and glowing with orange light. They continue walking down the corridor, but stop once they hear the sounds of voices from directly in front of them.

"In here." Obi-Wan says, noticing a door slightly ajar. The Jedi quickly react, running through the doorway and close the door before locking it. Everyone lets out a simultaneous sigh of relief once the door is locked.

"Well, since we're in the heart of enemy territory, I am going to make my call." Karel says, then walks off to the corner of the square room before pulling out his comm device and activating it. As the conversation goes on, Sander looks around and notices two chairs facing a wall opposite the way they came in and a switch on the right wall. Curious, he walks towards the switch and flips it up. Slowly, the heavy shades start lifting up. "Hey, I've got to go. See you soon." With that, Karel closes the comm line and looks into the chamber that is revealed.

The scene is not what any of them were expecting. It is a padded white room with a simple white toilet and sink on the left wall. In the center of the room, staring at them, is a single girl who is in her early teens with long brown hair and scared brown eyes. "Hello? Who are you?"

"I am Obi-Wan Kenobi." Kenobi says.

Before anyone else can introduce themselves, the girl speaks up. "Wait, are you here to rescue me?"

Leia looks at the girl, lost for words, before speaking up. "Well, no, but…"

"No?" The girl asks, standing up. "No? You would leave me here and watch me like I'm a freak behind your fancy walls?" Her voice gets angrier and angrier before she starts shaking violently. The Force explodes in pain, making the Jedi wince and their eyes go wide at what happens next.

The girl's eyes become pure white and her entire body starts dissolving into a thick black cloud with a reddish core. The cloud then charges forward and smashes against the glass wall, which miraculously doesn't even crack under the pressure. A large fist emerges from the cloud and starts pounding against it hard.

"What is going on?" Obi-Wan asks, staring at the scene in shock. Never has he felt the Force feel so chaotic in his life.

Karel also stares at this, his eyes wide. "She's an Obscurial. I learned during my training that in ancient times on Gaia, Force-sensitives were labelled witches and hunted down for execution. These Force sensitives hated their own power, and suppressed it. Most of the time, the power becomes too destructive and the host's body is torn to pieces. But there are some who have learned to live with it and survive. Then the two worlds separated and Obscurials faded into obscurity, that is until after the Sith Empire was established. Once Kadabra started kidnapping many Force sensitives and training them to be Sith, some escaped the destruction and suppressed their potential to hide. It seems that the Imperial Science Department is training Obscurials to use their power and create even greater destruction."

The other Jedi look at each other, deeply disturbed by this revelation. Never have they heard of the consequences of suppressing ones' connection to the Force. "I think it's best we leave before reinforcements arrive." Obi-Wan says. He then walks to the door, but then stops once he hears more voices on the other side.

"Come on, guys. There's something I want to show you. Trust me, it will blow your minds." One of the voices say, before the footsteps start getting quieter.

"I think it would be best if we leave now." Leia says, starting to look anxious.

"Not yet." Sander speaks up, catching everyone's attention once more. "Why don't we follow those guys and figure out what has gotten them so excited? It would be nice to know a bit more about what we are up against."

"I agree." Karel says.

"Well, I've always been curious as to what they have been making here for months." Leia admits, smirking a little.

Obi-Wan just sighs. "Well, somebody has to keep you in line."

Obi-Wan opens the door, and together, they go deeper into the complex and through a door on the far end of the corridor. Once they pass through the doorway, they come across another rather disturbing sight.

The stone pathway continues on, each side lined with cylindrical glass tubes and featureless men and women are floating inside, in fetal positions to cover their private areas. Even farther down the pathway are three Imperial guards staring at a cylindrical spot, waiting for something. Before the Jedi can figure out what, the automated voice in the elevator speaks over a loudspeaker. "Download of software complete. Ejecting Adaptor Mark 2, Number 2022N."

Just then, a panel on the ceiling slides open and a large plastic bag that is airtight starts lowering itself to the circle. The bag itself is airtight and inside is a woman who looks very familiar to Obi-Wan. "Senator Amidala?" He asks, a hint of shock in his voice.

Leia stares at the woman in the bag, her horror increasing greatly as she truly understands. "They are creating androids that look like real humans. They could be creating them to look like real humans to impersonate them."

After she whispers those words, the bag splits open on the bottom and the woman slides out, crashing into the ground below her. The female Adaptor starts gasping for air, laying on her side as her long brown hair lays limply at her side. "Well, look at what we have here. Heaven gave us an angel." One of the guards says, leaning closer to take a look at the female Adaptor.

"Geez, man, do you really have to act like that?" One of the other guards says incredulously.

"Aw, it's okay. The good scientists won't be here for a while. I think we can have some fun with her before they arrive. No one will notice." The lead man says, a sneer forming on his face.

Before they or the Jedi can make a move, a man starts walking out of the side door that is hidden shadows. This man is in his mid-30's, has combed light blonde hair with sharp blue eyes behind a pair of black-rimmed glasses, and is wearing neat black pants, along with a long black overcoat covers his entire body. "But I will." He says as he approaches the trio of guards.

They look up, finally noticing the new arrival, along with the woman. "Who in the hell are you?" The leader asks, an anxious tone in his voice.

"A machine who is more human than you ever will be." The man growls out then grips the lead guard's head and squeezes. The screams in agony as bones crunch loudly and blood starts gushing from his eye sockets from the eyes being pushed into his head. The third man's eyes widen in horror.

"It's Roland. Kill him!" He then pulls out a plasma rifle and starts firing it at Roland. But the Adaptor is much faster, throwing the corpse aside and grabbing the second guard who is too terrified to dodge and holds in front of him. The plasma shots make direct impact with the guard, killing him instantly.

Roland then throws the other corpse in the other direction and runs towards the last man, gripping the plasma pistol before it can fire again. "Please, no." He says as the pistol starts inching towards his face. "I didn't want to have any part in this. I have a wife and son back home. Please let me go; I swear on my life that I will not say anything to anyone ever." By now, tears are leaking down his face as the point of the pistol touches his chin.

"Your word means nothing to me." Roland says before pushing the man's finger down, pulling the trigger. His head explodes in a shower of blood, coating some of the woman's face. Her face is ashen and she just stares up at Roland, horrified.

He looks down at her and a small smile forms on his face. He then pulls off his jacket and gives it to the woman, who takes it and wraps it around her body. "It is nice to finally meet you. What is your name?"

She just stares up at Roland for a few long moments before responding. "Natalie." Slowly, she climbs onto her feet and looks around. "Where am I?"

Roland's smile fades into a grimace. "You are in the worst place in the universe. We are leaving."

"Hold it." Leia says, stepping out from behind their cover. "We can get you out of here real fast."

"Who are you?" Roland asks, picking up a plasma pistol form one of the dead guards and pointing it at her. In response, Leia pulls out her lightsaber and activates the blade.

"A Jedi." Natalie whispers, awe in her voice.

Roland lowers his weapon an inch once he sees the weapon, but he keeps it up. "Just because you are fighting the same people I am fighting doesn't make you my ally."

"Likewise." Leia replies, a cold tone in her voice.

"Please stop." Obi-Wan adds, deciding to step out and stop the situation from escalating any further. "We can talk this out."

"Talk?" Roland asks coldly. "I will not negotiate with the likes of you. Once we leave this base, you will not follow us. If you do, I will kill you."

"Well, as long as we're not going to the same place, then I believe that can be arranged." Kenobi replies.

Before the tension can escalate any further, sirens start blaring all around them. "Attention, attention. We have received confirmation that Roland Crowley is in the facility. Repeat, Roland Crowley is in the facility. You have orders to shoot him on sight." A man says over the loudspeakers.

"Well, it was nice meeting you. But I think we should get going." Karel says, then starts running in the opposite direction. The rest of the Jedi follow close behind while the Adaptor twins pick up more plasma pistols and go through the emergency exit doorway. The Jedi make their way through the long corridors, not encountering any Imperial soldiers along the way. They make their way back towards the elevator and ride it back to the main docking bay.

As the elevator reaches the top, Karel freezes in place then lifts his hands. The Force bends to his will, and holds the elevator's doors shut. Seconds later, the sounds of dozens of soldiers marching rapidly gets louder, before it passes them and slowly fades away. "Good job." Leia says once the Force technique is dropped and the doors slide open. Following the Force's guidance, they run down the corridor on the right until coming to an open docking where a dozen Arrow transports are sitting, waiting to be loaded onto their various war ships.

The hatch is open on one of them, and Caleb pokes his head out. "That's our way to leave this place." Sander says, breaking out into a full-blown sprint. The other Jedi do the same, barely noticing the sounds of plasma shots going off in the middle of the hallways and many people screaming in terror.

Eventually, the quartet make it onto the Arrow and get themselves seated. "Took you long enough." Anakin calls from the pilots' seat as he maneuvers the Arrow out of the hanger and through space. While the moon base looks peaceful on the outside, they can feel the chaos from the inside as the Imperials try their best to end the Adaptors before they also escape.

The transport continues to fly towards Gaia, its silvery surface turning bright orange from entering the atmosphere. Anakin uses every ounce of his piloting skills to steer the transport towards the planet. But as Anakin continues flying it towards the vast ocean, he realizes that it does not handle nearly as well as other star fighters.

"Hey back there." Anakin shouts. "This is going to be a really rough crash-landing!"

"Just like every other landing you've made?" Ahsoka calls back in response.

"Very funny, Snips." Anakin snaps, then flips a cover over a large red button on his right and pressing the button. The ramp lowers itself completely, and the sounds of whooshing air can be heard all throughout the small transport as Anakin sails closer towards the vast blue sea, with a large series of islands nearby.

"Get out of here while you can!" Leia shouts, realizing how serious this is. As Anakin gets within a dozen feet above the surface of the ocean, he levels the transport out. Then the crew start making their way to the ramp before jumping out of the transport and into the ocean below. Windu is the first to go, followed with Depa Billaba, Caleb Dume, Ahsoka, and Obi-Wan. But once Sander sees the ocean passing rapidly below him, he blanches and backs into Depa.

"Sander, it's okay." She says, using the Force to ease his growing fear.

"Come on, kid. It's not that bad." Karel says, walking backwards towards the edge of the ramp and falls into the ocean.

Sander just stares with wide eyes and quivering slightly. "Let's go together. Ready?" Leia says, holding Sander closely. He looks up at her and nods. Together, they run forward and also jump out.

Once Anakin is certain that everyone else is off the ship, he sets the ship on auto-pilot and starts running towards the same entrance and jumping out before the Arrow flies above him. It continues lowering itself to the ocean before skidding against the surface. The transport bucks to the right and starts rolling along the surface of the ocean before it starts sinking into the deep waters. Anakin looks around and notices his fellow advance team already swimming to the nearby beach, where a small shack is sitting on the top of a grassy hill.

Smirking slightly at his victory, Anakin starts following the rest of the group. After several minutes, he reaches the beach and comes to a peculiar sight. The Jedi are standing on the edge of the beach, water dripping from their robes, and staring with bewildered looks at a dozen men and women in long red robes and pointing sticks at them. Once they see Karel, though, some of them lower their wands.

"Karel, it's good to see you again." Hailey Potter says, then looks at his companions. "You must be the Jedi he mentioned. My name is Hailey Potter, and I welcome you to Earth."

* * *

 _AN:_ Well, it's out later than I was expecting, but out nonetheless.

It was an interesting chapter to write, and 1 part was inspired by the Blade Runner 2022 anime. Now that was a good short.

Anyway, on with the brief Q&A:

WhiteElfElder: In a way. The plasma weapons utilize a miniature radioactive core to produce the plasma needed in each shot, and the guns can be manually set to become unstable and explode. So, in that respect, yes.

SontaiShinonome: Yeah, that is kind of an issue with prequels. But I believe that if a prequel has enough twists and reveals stuff about the main story readers take for granted, it smooths the blow considerably.

Anyway, see you all next time with the funniest chapter in the entire story. I won't spoil it, but I think you will like it.


	28. Chapter 28: A Rough Start

**November 20** **th**

 **2000**

 **9:00 pm Gaia Time**

 **Cornwall County Beach**

 **Southwestern England, Europe**

 **Gaia**

* * *

 **3** **rd** **Person POV:**

* * *

Silence.

While the nine members of the Republic advance team just stare at the dozen robed men and women, ready to pull out their lightsabers to defend themselves at a moment's notice, the only sound being made is that of the waves continuing to crash against the beach they are standing on.

After a long moment, Hailey lowers her wand and a smirk forms on her face. "Well, you have certainly mastered making a dramatic entrance." She then lowers her wand. "Put them down. They're on our side."

"How can we be sure it's them?" One of the members of the group asks angrily, not dropping his hand an inch. "Shouldn't we break into their minds or at least test them to see they are who they say they are?"

Hailey glares at her companion before letting out a sigh. "As much as I despise the idea of torture, **Cedric** , I do agree that we should test them." She then turns to Karel. "So, Karel Allusis, what was the name of the centaur you met during your training at Hogwarts and what did he tell you the night before you became a Maven?"

Karel stares back at Hailey for a long moment, his companions looking at each other in confusion, before responding. "His name was Firenze and he told me, 'Mars is unusually bright tonight. All we can do now is hope.'"

Another long moment of silence passes before the group lower their wands to their sides. "All right. Welcome to Shell Cottage. Dumbledore will be greatly pleased to finally meet you." Cedric says, then turns around and starts walking back towards the small cottage, with four decently-sized wooden shacks sitting on the grassy tops of the sand dunes, rickety doors facing the ocean.

The group continues to walk up the larger and more established house. Along the way, the Republic allies feel a strange tingling snakes its way across every inch of their skin before the sensation suddenly stops. Once the group reaches the front door, Hailey knocks on the door three times.

The door opens a crack. "How many feathers did Albus Dumbledore's phoenix, Fawkes, donate to Mr. Ollivander?" A male voice asks from the other side, a nasally tone in his voice.

"Two." Hailey replies instantly.

The door swings inward instantly, revealing to the Jedi a hunched over man wearing a moldy, painfully shabby overcoat over a green vest, and brown pants covered in patches and smells suspiciously like mothballs. He has a pasty face with greasy grey hair and bulging, pale eyes. His eyes settle on the Jedi who are looking at the man incredulously. His face twists into a sneer, and his face lands on Ahsoka for a second longer than the others. "Oh, you're the Jedi I've heard about. You don't look very impressive, if you ask me. Are they who they say they are?"

"Yes, they are. Now let us in, Filch. This ocean air is too cold for my liking." Hailey says, shivering a little.

"Tell me all about it." Sander mutters, looking around at the beach.

"Fine. Get in here." Filch states sharply, stepping aside to allow the nine Jedi to walk past. They look at each other hesitantly before walking in one at a time while the dozen Order members walk away from the Jedi, disappearing with an audible pop. Once Obi-Wan walks through the doorway, followed by the dozen Order members, Filch closes the door and walks in the back. "You should have pushed them harder. I miss the old ways, when I would hang disobedient students on the wall by their thumbs. Oh, how I miss their pitiful screams."

Unfortunately for Filch, Sander and Obi-Wan couldn't help but overhear Filch's mumbling, and both of them blanch considerably as a result. Before they can say anything, they reach a small dining room where a single long table is in the center, with an old couch and two leather chairs facing a fireplace, with numerous cooking pans hanging above. Sitting at the table are three men.

One of whom has greasy black hair, cold black eyes, and wearing long black robes. Another man, sitting across from his companion, is a man with neatly combed black hair, the same circular glasses and brown eyes as Hailey, and has some muscle on him. The final man is sitting at the head of the table, wearing long grey robes over a grey suit and black tie, with a long-brimmed hat on his head and his sharp blue eyes shine brightly behind his half-moon spectacles.

The trio stop talking instantly and look up at the nine Jedi, who are staring inquisitively back. The eldest man manages a weak smile. "Hello, Karel. It has been a while since we met."

"It has." Karel says, a little stiffly. "Anyway, I would like you to meet the Jedi I told Hailey would be coming. This is Depa Billaba, Caleb Dume, Mace Windu, Ahsoka Tano, Anakin Skywalker, Obi-Wan Kenobi, Leia Haggar, and Sander Blanco. They are leading a Republic fleet who will help us liberate Gaia from Emperor Kadabra once and for all."

The three men look at each other, relief showing on their faces. "Well, this is the first good news I've heard in too long." The man on the left says, looking at the table as if it is the most disgusting thing in the galaxy.

"Indeed, Severus. Indeed."

"Wait, what happened, Dumbledore? I heard from Hailey that something happened, but I was never given details." Karel says, looking concerned.

The trio look at each other once more before Dumbledore sighs. "We had a breach in security. Somehow, the Empire managed to find the location of our old base and attacked it. All of the children we were protecting are either dead or in the Empire's hands. We lost many fighters in the ambush, including Alastor Moody. In reality, only 10 of us managed to survive the massacre, while all of our agents have been recalled until we can figure out how best to proceed next. In total, only 20 of us remain." He says, looking at the table with a forelorn look that makes his already aged face look decades older. The Jedi look at each other, the solemnness hanging in the air like a thick fog. "Ah, but how rude of me. My name is Albus Dumbledore, and I lead what's left of the Order of the Phoenix, an organization dedicated to restoring order to our planet. This here is Severus Snape, and James Potter, one of our best fighters. I assume you must be starving. Please, make yourselves comfortable. I will have our cooks make you something during your stay."

"Thank you, Mr. Dumbledore." Obi-Wan says, bowing in respect, before seating himself at the table. Many of the other members sit down at the table, except Sander and Caleb are still standing.

"Do you mind if I sit here?" Sander asks, gesturing to the couch. Dumbledore nods and Sander nods in gratitude, sitting down on the middle of the couch while Caleb seats himself on the chair on the right.

Suddenly, the front door crashes inward and a man who stands 11 feet tall walks in, his back rubbing against the ceiling despite being slightly crouched. The Jedi just stare in shock at the man with grisly black hair that stretches into a shaggy beard, black eyes glinting from behind wearing a large black jacket and brown pants, and holding a large pink umbrella. "Ah, Hagrid. I'm so glad you could make it. Jedi, may I introduce you to one of our senior members, Rubeus Hagrid."

"'Ello." Hagrid says, waving slightly at the Jedi at the table. Anakin just stares with an open mouth at Hagrid, barely comprehending how tall he is. Even Windu is surprised by Hagrid for a brief moment before he returns to his stoic expression. Hagrid then walks towards the couch, where Sander is staring up at Hagrid with wide eyes. "Budge up yer great lump." He says, then plops himself in the couch, making it groan loudly and sick to the ground a little.

Sander's eyes widen even more and gulps a little. "You know what? I think I'm just going to sit in the chair, if you don't mind, Mr. Hagrid." Sander says, then gets up and walks towards the other chair and getting himself seated.

Karel chuckles slightly at Sander's predicament, but manages to notice the plates of roast beef, mashed potatoes, and a Caesar salad fly directly in front of him, as well as every other Jedi in the room. "I must thank you for your hospitality and allowing us to stay in your base." Obi-Wan says, as he continues eating through his dinner. Hagrid, meanwhile, points his umbrella at the fireplace, resulting in a blazing fire filling the fireplace, and Hagrid warms up several hot dogs before eating them off the pitchfork.

"If you are truly here to help us reclaim our home, you are welcome to stay with us as long as you desire." Dumbledore says, eyeing the Jedi slowly.

"Yes, but we will not be here for long. The Republic fleet will be here on Gaia in three days. We need to complete our primary objective if the invasion is to succeed." Windu says, once he has stopped eating and looks at the Jedi's hosts.

"And what, do tell, is your objective?" James asks, quirking an eyebrow at Windu.

Windu just stares back for a long moment before responding. "We need to find Emperor Kadabra and Empress Kione, and eliminate him. Without their leadership or someone old enough to take their place, the Republic will be able to dissolve the Sith Empire."

The trio look at each other, skepticism on their faces. "And how do you plan to do this?" Snape asks, "Kadabra is a great duelist, only a fool would deny it. He and his family have layers of protection and his mastery of magic only makes him worse. Not even the Mafia have managed to assassinate the Imperial family, and they have come closer than anyone else in years."

"I've heard a lot about this 'Mafia' everyone talks about. Will they be willing to help us?" Depa asks, sounding intrigued.

"No." Ahsoka replies, catching everyone's attention. "I heard a lot about them during my exile. The Mafia is the largest and most dangerous rebel cell perhaps in the whole galaxy, and they are proud of it. They are a coordinated union of all the crime families across Gaia and their most trusted allies. Over half of all the murders and robberies that occur across Imperial Space are directly linked to them. Only the Hutt clan can match the Mafia's efficiency of organized crime."

"We have had dealings with them in the past." Karel adds, a sour look on his face. "They are overly proud of what they have achieved, and their arrogance has cost them considerably. But I can't deny that they do provide good business; over half of our weapons were imported from the Irish branch of the Mafia, and enhanced to be better."

"Isn't it obvious?" Caleb speaks up, gaining everyone's attention. "Why don't we just find a way to weaken him before killing him? Is there any way to weaken the Emperor that much?"

A long moment of silence passes before Dumbledore's eyes light up. "Why did I never think of this before? Yes, I believe you are right, Mr. Dume. But I will need Mr. Weasley's opinion if my theory is possible, but there's something else. Something I heard about on that day four years ago; the day Earth became the first victim of Harry and his forces. He mentioned how the planet was home to the Jedi for centuries before they were forgotten."

"All right, hold up." Anakin interrupts, making a 'T' shape with his hands. "You said the Jedi had a presence here?"

"Indeed." Snape replies. "We spent months raiding Imperial libraries, trying to find anything on what our manipulative Emperor was talking about. Apparently, thousands of Jedi crash-landed on Earth and created our society. Overtime, their ways became forgotten and the new branch of Force use, what we call magic, was born."

The Jedi listen to this short story with rapt attention, awe on their faces. "A Temple." Depa mutters, then looks up. "If Jedi have lived on this planet as long as you say, then they must have built a Jedi Temple somewhere on this planet. If we can find it and spread the dormant light inside the Temple, then we could already hold an advantage against the Emperor."

Suddenly, both Caleb and Sander let out loud yawns, only for them to suddenly suppress them and blush heavily in response. "You know what? If you don't mind, could we use the rooms upstairs and get some rest? It's too late to talk about these kinds of plans." Karel asks, fighting to keep his eyes open at this moment.

The wizards take notice of the Jedi's exhaustion. "Of course. You may use the bedrooms upstairs. In the morning, we shall discuss how best to proceed with your plans."

"Yea. I better get goin'." Hagrid says, standing up and starts walking towards the doorway before swinging it open and accidentally ripping the door off its hinge, making it crash to the ground. "Sorry." Hagrid says, then walks out of the door.

James just sighs a little, shaking his head while a small smile forms on his face. "I'm glad to see some things never change. Wingadium Leviosa!" He shouts after pulling out his wand and swishing it. The door lifts off the ground and slips into the doorway. "Reparo!" The nails slide back into place, sealing the door like the damage was never done.

The Jedi just stare at James, looks of amazement and bafflement on their faces. Eventually, they stand up and walk towards the wooden staircase and climb up to the top, which leads to numerous bedrooms. The Jedi fan out, entering three of the rooms with open doors. They are simple, with a single bed, a single wooden desk slide against the far wall in each room along with a wardrobe tucked into the corners, and a window that provides a vast view of the ocean, and the moonlight glinting off the waves.

"Get as much rest as you can." Windu says, looking out at the ocean in one such bedroom. "I am of the belief that we will not have many opportunities in the days to come."

His companions just shrug and begin spreading out to the open rooms, Leia taking first dibs and on the bed on the left before pulling the thick covers over her and immediately falling asleep. "That was fast." Karel remarks, staring at her incredulously.

"Yeah, you kind of get used to it." Sander says, as he lays himself on the ground and stares up at the ceiling. "But everything we've been through has made her a light sleeper." He then lays his head down on the ground and closes his eyes.

Karel just sighs and sits in the chair in front of the desk, turns it around and gets himself settled. After a few long moments of listening to the roaring waves, he too closes his eyes.

* * *

 **November 21** **st**

 **6:30 am Gaia Time**

 **Shell Cottage, Second Floor**

* * *

Sander Blanco lets out a large yawn and sits up, the wooden boards underneath him creaking slightly. Slowly, he stands up and looks around. Leia is not sleeping in the bed and Karel is nowhere to be found. Frowning slightly, the 7-year-old walks out of the doorway and back down the staircase.

Once he walks back down the staircase, he notices that most of the advance team is already awake and eating breakfast that is laid out on the table. "Morning, Sander." Anakin says, before digging into the sausages on the plate, sitting next to some scrambled eggs and French toast. "This is really good."

"Well, thank you, sir. The pork sausage is my specialty." A feminine voice replies from the nearby kitchen before chuckling slightly.

Sander looks around and notices something. "Morning. Hey, where is Karel?"

"Mr. Allusis is off to take care of some business and fetch some personal items before your mission may begin, Mr. Blanco. To answer your question, Ms. Haggar, my allies have discovered a means of transporting you across the Atlantic Ocean yesterday and are currently securing it." Dumbledore answers from the head of the table before returning his attention to Windu while Sander walks down, takes a plate of breakfast and begins eating. "As I was going to say, I have heard rumors that Emperor Kadabra is staying in New York, the capitol of Gaia, to holding a major meeting with his Senators across the galaxy tomorrow at noon. This is your only chance you have at taking him down before your fleet arrives."

"Of course. I believe that our best course of action is to divide our numbers. Some of us will distract the Emperor long enough until we can find a way to locate where the Jedi Temple on this planet is and activate it."

"And how exactly do you plan on finding it?" Snape asks, also sitting at the table. A young man with fire red hair that reaches his shoulders, crystal blue eyes, pale skin and a long scar stretching across his cheek, who is also listening intently.

"I plan on following the Force's guidance to where I need to go." Windu calmly answers.

"So, you are just going to blindly follow a powerful entity that knows all, assuming it's going to all work out for you in the end. Pardon me for thinking that sounds completely absurd.*" The red-haired man says with a deadpan tone in his voice after swallowing a particularly large bite of toast.

While Obi-Wan raises an eyebrow at the blunt comment for a second, before going back to eating. "Now, Mr. Weasley. Do you believe that a Effusio rune would work at all?"

The man shrugs. "I dunno. I'm not my brother when it comes to runes, but it should work just fine."

Sander looks at the conversation with confusion, but before he can speak up, Leia beats him to it. "What do you mean?"

The man looks at her, taking a large bite out of his sausage before swallowing. "Dumbledore believes that we should help you in the final fight. I am going to create some new runes we invented after Hogwarts became a major Imperial facility. Put it this way; the runes can act like a jar, in that if one of us uses our magic to open the rune, then we could absorb the Emperor's powers and weaken him even further, allowing us to strike the final blow."

"These 'runes' can do that?" Caleb asks, surprised. "I must say, you wizards have some pretty impressive techniques at your disposal."

The rest of breakfast passes in silence, afterwhich they give the plates to the cook. As Anakin is about to walk outside, the door swings open and Karel walks in. He is wearing the same golden Agent Pennsylvania armor he wore the other day, his crossguard lightsaber hanging at his side; his shoulders are slightly slumped and on his back is a large camouflage-colored backpack. "Oh hey, Karel. How was your trip?" The red-haired man asks.

"Hello to you too, Ron." Karel replies, slightly coldly. "I had a good trip. Managed to fetch everything I want before things go south, and I come bearing good news and bad news. The good news is that there are many Force-sensitive Imperial agents who wish to see Kadabra's reign end. But there are many others who are unwavering in their loyalty. Now, they're in a civil war that we could get caught in the middle of. What's really bad is that there are hundreds of wanted signs for many who are known to oppose the Sith's rule. I'm sorry to say that all of us, even me, are now public enemies."

The Jedi look at each other, while Dumbledore lets out a sigh. "I guess, deep down, I knew this was going to happen. I can only hope we can figure out how to address this new problem."

Before the conversation can progress any further, the door swings open again and Hailey Potter walks in, red robes billowing around her and Cedric on her immediate right, also wearing red robes. "Jedi, I come bearing good news." Hailey says, a small smile making its way onto her face. "We managed to secure the ship."

For the first time in years, Dumbledore also smiles at hearing that. "Very good." Then, standing up as one, they walk out of Shell Cottage. As they leave the house, they all freeze and stare in surprise. Standing much farther out on the beach, Hagrid holding a large crossbow in his hands standing out among the small crowd, is the enormous black ship, stylized like a 16th century Spanish galleon, with a dragon-shaped figurehead, white sails with the symbol of a red eagle on the largest sail, and topped off with red and yellow pennants.

"Blimey. I haven't seen that ship in years." Ron says, his eyes wide and a smile also forming his lips.

"You expect us to take that…thing across an ocean?" Anakin asks, skepticism practically dripping from his voice.

"It may not look like much." Hailey replies. "But this ship was one of Durmstrang Institute's most prized possessions. It really was a miracle we found it shipwrecked off the coast of Norway with only corpses on board. What makes this ship special is that it is enchanted by the Force to travel faster than any other ship of its kind. It can travel across the Atlantic in half a day at most, whereas even Imperial Navy carriers would take three days to make the journey. But most importantly, this ship has little to no metal on it, is capable of turning invisible to those who can't use magic like we can**, and with the powerful magic coming from it, this ship will be invisible to all Imperial scanners."

Ahsoka raises an eyebrow whistle at hearing about the ship's capabilities. "Well, you people are full of surprises. But you don't have to come with us."

"You will need all of the help you can get. Like it or not, we will help you. Most of us have got nothing left to lose anymore." Cedric says, as he walks up to them. "Besides, Karel was right. Your images are all over the cities. You would be recognized instantly."

"So, we will find a way prevent ourselves from being recognized." Depa states flatly.

"That won't be necessary for all of us." Windu replies. "Some of us will need to find the Jedi Temple, avoiding any major settlements. I suggest we split up, and form two groups. One will seek out the Temple and find a way to re-activate it, the other will keep the Emperor distracted long enough for the real battle to begin."

"Mate, you really are pushing your luck." Ron states, an anxious look on his face.

"I don't believe in luck. I have the Force at my side." While nobody notices it, Sander's hand twitches and a single curl of smoke rises into the air.

"I agree with Master Windu." Kenobi says, stepping forward. "Both missions are vital. I think that I will take charge of the team who will take on the Emperor."

"I'm coming with you." Anakin says, stepping forward. "The Emperor used to be my friend. I think it's time he paid for playing us for so long."

"I will join as well." Leia states, crossing her arms and giving a small smile.

"Well, since you're my mentor, I would rather stick with you guys." Sander says, raising his hand.

"I think that it would be best if I came as well." Karel adds, also lifting up his hand.

"Very well, but no more. If too many of you go, then you will only raise unwanted attention." Windu speaks up.

The wizards begin trekking up the hill, making their way towards the rather large group. "Well, since you five will most likely be traveling through Imperial cities, it would be wise to wear some kind of disguises." Snape states, looking at the sea-soaked Jedi robes with a hint of distaste.

"Oh. Oh, yeah. I have an idea." Hailey says, her brown eyes glinting mischievously from behind her glasses.

James smiles widely at seeing this side of his daughter again, with Ron smirking. "This outta be good."

"I suggest that certain members of your party wear different disguises so as to make yourselves look different. In order for them to work, they have to be the so absurd, no one would ever think you were Jedi. While you're out, can you please come up with new names and how you will act with those disguises on? That will make your cover that much believable." Hailey states, the gleam in her eyes never flickering.

Meanwhile, twin redheads who are standing directly behind Hailey hear the conversation and they look at each other, their eyes gleaming slightly. "Do I hear that these stiffs need crazy disguises?" The redhead on the left asks.

"If so, we can take them shopping and show them what craziness really is." The redhead on the right states.

The Jedi just stare at the twins, once again bewildered. "Who are you?" Caleb asks, his instincts telling him to stay on guard.

"I'm Fred." The redhead on the left says.

"No, I'm Fred. You're George." The man on the right states.

"Oh, yeah." Fred states.

"So, when do we leave to get ourselves…under the Imperial radar?" Leia asks, anxious to get going.

"Immediately." Dumbledore says. "While you are gone with a single member of the Order as escort, the rest of my people will load the ship with enough supplies for us all to make the journey."

"Well, then we best be on our way." Kenobi says. Cedric then walks towards Obi-Wan.

"Hold on tight. This could get rough." With those last words, Cedric takes a deep breath and closes his eyes. Then, Obi-Wan suddenly feels like he is being pulled through a tight pathway by his nasal passageways. Then, as suddenly as the pain came, it just as suddenly ceased. The next thing Obi-Wan can see as he tries to keep his breakfast down is that the duo are now in the middle of a dark alleyway.

"What was that?" Kenobi asks.

"Apparition. Great for traveling long distances in short periods of time, but it is also places an extra stress on your body to use it constantly." Cedric replies, then walks out of the alleyway and into the street. Obi-Wan follows close behind and suddenly, his breath stops.

The duo is standing in the middle of the empty sidewalk of a vast street, and across from them is a massive building. Metal bars are bolted into place above the glass windows, with dozens of locks keeping the glass doors shut. "There it is. Harrod's; the most famous store in Western Europe. I try to avoid places like this, but it's necessary. Follow me."

They then walk towards the front entrance. Even from outside, Obi-Wan can see the miniscule red lights on the inside of the doorway. "Alohamora." Cedric mutters. The lights instantly go out and the doors click open. Cedric opens the door, and they walk in, between the panels of glowing green lights. "Alright. Until this place opens in the next few hours, everything around you is fair game. But make it quick; I don't want to be here long."

Obi-Wan nods and closes his eyes. He concentrates on the Force and embraces it. He opens his eyes and follows its guidance, shifting through shelves upon shelves of products he had never seen in his life before eventually coming to a stop. Kenobi just stares at the contents of the massive glass box in the center of an enormous display hall, feeling a little baffled.

Inside the massive box are a row of seven suits of armor unlike any Obi-Wan has seen before, and while each of them are a different color, they all have the same rectangular-shaped visor which is so clean, Kenobi can see his own reflection in it. The middle suit is a deep forest green, while the three suits on its left are red, maroon, and orange; meanwhile, the suits on the suit's left are deep blue, cobalt, and aqua. On either side of the massive display are large posters of a man wearing the same green armor as the one in the center, seemingly running towards Kenobi while holding a primitive-looking battle rifle. On the armored soldier's right is another man, a foot-soldier judging by his armor, firing his own rifle, and a land-based vehicle firing a mounted turret at two purple, alien-looking vessels. On top of the colorful image is the name Halo: Combat Evolved, with another phrase on the bottom, stating Coming on November 25th, 2000***. Pre-Order now, and you may qualify to win a MJOLNIR battle-suit to amaze your friends!

"Well, it looks like somebody's going to be disappointed." Kenobi mutters, shaking his head, before lifting his head and waving his right hand at the glass case. The security systems he sensed along the glass case disarm themselves, allowing Kenobi enough time to thrust his right arm back. The cobalt-colored armor instantly flies out of the case, the glass being smashed and the shards instantly littering the tiled floors. Kenobi grabs the metal suit by the chestplate and immediately makes a mad dash towards the changing room.

Several minutes later, Obi-Wan shakily steps out, wearing the cobalt armor. He looks down at his armored arms, then rotates them around. To the Jedi's surprise, his movements aren't hindered by the heavy-looking armor. "What the hell! Jedi!" Someone shouts behind him. Obi-Wan whirls around, noticing a security guard staring at him in surprise. The Jedi Master then lifts his hand up. The guard goes flying into the far wall before crashing into the far wall. "Son of a bitch!" He shouts, before being knocked out by the impact and slides down the wall.

Kenobi walks towards the unconscious guard, then notices the long plasma rifle in his hands. Shrugging slightly, Kenobi reaches down and picks up the plasma rifle. "Well, I best be on my way before the guard wakes up." Kenobi mutters then runs through the long aisles, jumping down the stairs to reach the ground level before seeing Cedric in the distance.

"I was beginning to worry you had gotten yourself captured." Cedric says, raising an eyebrow at the armor Kenobi is wearing. "And you couldn't have picked a worse thing to steal, could you? Come on, let's get you back to base."

They run across the street, avoiding a car that passes by them, and run back into the alleyway. Cedric grabs onto Obi-Wan and apparates them back to Shell Cottage. When Kenobi can see straight again, he notices the long and winding beach, with the sun beginning to turn the sky orange. "Well, that look certainly suits you." Ahsoka Tano comments, staring at Obi-Wan with a smirk.

"Thanks. Though my beard is starting to rub against this helmet a lot." Kenobi replies.

"I can only imagine. So, what is your cover name going to be?"

Kenobi is in deep thought, then remembers some of the things he saw at Harrod's. "I think I will be…Leonard…Church. Leonard Church."

Cedric, Hailey, the nearby Dumbledore, and the other four Jedi raise an eyebrow at the name. "Well, Mr. Church. It certainly is a certainly unique name. I believe that the others should be arriving soon." Dumbledore says, then stares down at the beach.

Sure enough, within minutes, James Potter apparates a few feet farther down the beach, with Karel Allusis standing at his side. Except that he still has his backpack on his back, and looks much different than anyone has ever seen. Karel is now wearing brown sandals, long black jeans, and a grey T-shirt with a blue and white tag stating Hello, my name is Wade above his left breast. But the most prominent difference is that instead of his usual blue hair, he dyed his hair light blonde and had shaken it out so now it's much unrulier than before. "Well, you certainly picked a more modest disguise, Karel." Kenobi states.

Karel turns towards Kenobi and raises an eyebrow at the armor. "You're one to talk. By the way, dude, I think you should know that my name isn't Karel. It is Durnt. Wade Durnt."

"Well, then, Mr. Durnt. Let us board the ship. We need to get underway." Hailey says, then the trio begin to walk towards the massive Spanish Galleon sitting in the middle of the ocean.

As they walk down the beach, Hagrid apparates onto the beach, Leia Haggar at his side. There is only one difference; instead of her modest Jedi robes, Leia is now wear a much more…revealing disguise. She is wearing a yellow crop top underneath a tan jacket which reveals her stomach area, both of which reveal a small amount of cleavage, and flashy golden bracelets on her wrists coupled with black, fingerless gloves. She is also wearing black short shorts with a brown skirt over it, and it is all topped off with brown, knee-high boots. "Well, you have always like showing off to everyone." Kenobi states sarcastically.

Leia blushes slightly at the statement. "Gee, thanks."

"Well, I best be off. Good luck to 'ye on yer mission." Hagrid says, patting her on the back and making her nearly fall face-first into the ground before the giant of a man begins walking towards the shacks.

"So, what will be your cover name be?" Kenobi asks, curious as to what the maverick Jedi has in mind.

"I think I will be Harriet Hart." Leia replies, then pulls out a box of cigarettes along with a lighter. She then uses the Force to open the box in a pocket at her hip, grabs one of the cigarettes before grabbing the lighter, flicking it open and lighting the tip with the small fire. "By the way, you guys make some wicked cigarettes. This stuff is way better than any cigarra ever. Good job." She flashes a thumbs up before pulling the cigarrete out of her mouth, blowing out a puff of smoke.

"Um… thanks?" Ron asks from the ship, looking a little surprised by her habit.

Leia then looks around, a frown on her face. "Where are Anakin and Sander?"

Before anyone could respond, two more pops can be heard. Fred and George appear on the beach, identical grins on their faces. "Bugger." Hailey mutters, somewhat dreading what they had in mind. Ron can only nod in agreement with the sentiment as they stare at them from the edge of the beach.

"Hey, guys! Don't forget us!" Fred says, his grin only widening.

"We helped create the best disguises of them all." George adds, then the duo simultaneously step in opposite directions, revealing their Jedi companions, both of whom are smirking widely. All it took was one look at them to leave everyone present flabbergasted. Leia gags in the middle of a smoke, Windu's eyes are wide with surprise, and even Karel's mouth is hanging open slightly.

"...Sander? What in the name of the Force are you **wearing**?" Leia asks hesitantly.

Anakin and Sander are dressed in easily the strangest disguises of them all. Anakin is wearing long pants of varying shades of black, sleek black shoes, a zipped-up long dark brown jacket with sleeves rolled up to the arms over a black tank top, and a bright red bandana wrapped around his right arm. His hair is tied back into a small ponytail and his face is smeared with charcoal, and a pair of thick tinted goggles are resting on his forehead.

Sander, however, is a completely different story. He is wearing a dark green business suit over a white undershirt, with a purple badge on his left side and a black bow tie in the center. The part of his new outfit that stands out from the rest is his knee-high white socks, fancy black shoes, a brown plaid skirt with a yellow 'R' emblazoned in the center, and the dark gold crown on his messy hair, with a jagged cut across the left.

"Um, I… kind of have to agree with Leia on this one. Why are you wearing a skirt, Sander?" Karel asks, a little weirded out.

"This is no skirt, you fools. It's a kilt. Also, until this mission is done, you shall call me Ryan Haywood Jr." Sander answers, a smug tone in his voice. Windu can't help but feel like the boy is going to milk this for all it's worth.

"What he zaid. And you can call me Jamez Wilhelm, and I will turn the Emperzor's lives into nein livez." Anakin adds, pointing his hand at Sander and speaking quickly in an outrageously fake German accent.

"Well, you certainly make quite a team." Dumbledore states, a twinkle of amusement in his aged blue eyes. "But I suppose it is time for us to part ways for now. May be meet again soon."

With that, Ryan Haywood Jr. and Jamez Wilhelm step onto the wooden platform and onto the ship. Anakin is already at work with his alternate personality, placing his hands on his hips and swaying his shoulders slightly as he walks up the gangplank. Instantly, the ship pulls away from the beach and sails into the sunrise, Dumbledore, the eighteen Order members who aren't joining the voyage, and the four Jedi stare at the ship as it sails away before walking towards the mainland, the Jedi following the Force's guidance.

The ship continues sailing across the Atlantic Ocean, traveling at high speeds, and the crew is wandering around on the deck, talking with each other or the Jedi to try and make the long journey more bearable.

Sander, however, wanders below the deck and towards the back side of the ship, past the many rows of hammocks swaying around him. He then unclips his lightsaber from his kilt and sets it down on a wooden desk next to the hammock before hoisting himself onto the hammock and hanging his head. "Well, you certainly look down." A voice comments.

Sander looks up immediately, alarm on his face. Then it softens when he realizes it is Karel walking in with his backpack. "Hey, Karel." Sander then notices that his friend has an irritated look on his face. "What's wrong? You don't look happy."

"No, I'm really pissed right now. Back when I was a Maven, we had bets on where the Order of the Phoenix is hiding out, and where their alternate base would be. I was betting that the Order had an alternate base in Antarctica. Now that I know that we are in England, we would fork over the pile of Imperial credits we contributed to."

"Go on. How much did you lose?"

"In total, my friends and I lost 4 million credits to that jerk, Daniel Cadmus."

Sander stares at Karel for a long moment before letting out a sigh and looking back down. "Yeah? Sucks to me you. I'm just happy that **Windu** isn't coming with us."

Karel stares at Sander for a long moment. "You know, I've been meaning to ask. Why do you hate Windu so much?"

Sander then curls up into a ball on the hammock, staring down at the wooden floor boards with a distant and sad look on his face. "Do you know who took you?"

Karel blinks, a confused look on his face. "What do you mean?"

"You were once with of the bad guys. That means you were taken from your family, enslaved by the Sith Masters, and taught how to be a tool for another's benefit. Do you know who took you from your parents?"

Karel stares at Sander, confused on where this was coming from. He thinks about it for a long moment before answering. "No. Knowledge of who recruited us into the Sith Order is directly forbidden. Seriously, though, why are you asking me this?"

Sander's gaze becomes far more distant, and tears begin forming in his eyes. "Because I do. For me, it was Windu. A year before the war started, I overheard Shaak Ti and Luminara talk about me and how I was brought in by that bald man. They even mentioned how Windu learned that my parents originally named me Alexander, but really, I prefer Sander much more. Alex is a bit clichéd, don't you think?" His head then lowers towards the ground. "How can I like or even have any respect for a jerk who kidnapped me, would probably lie to me about it if I ever bring it up, and be expected to fight a war for him?" By now, the tears were rolling down his cheeks and dropping to the floorboards. "My greatest wish is to have a family that I can be a part of, to be the son I never got to be. My mentor is great, but I do not know her enough to truly consider her family."

Karel just stares at the younger boy, stunned by his statement and moved by what heard. "I'm sorry to hear that. But I can assure you of this. If you remain to who you are, then you will have what you desire, and more one day." With that, Karel sets down his backpack down on the ground and pulls out a silver boom box.

"I hope you're right." Sander says, wiping the tears away from his face. "Thanks for listening to me. Hey, what else have you got in that bag?"

"Just a bunch of random stuff. My armor, a movie from this planet, a bunch of other stuff. Honestly, it's hard to keep track of everything I have." Karel replies off-handedly, then begins rummaging through his bag. Sander, however, notices the boom box. He gets out of his hammock and walks towards it before flipping a nob in the center. "What does this do?" He asks, then twists the nob on the right. To his surprise, a multitude of voices come out of the speakers before he stops at one such voice.

"Hello, my dear listeners. I'm Casey Kasem, back to present to you the American top 40 from coast to coast in 1983. Stay tuned for more classic hits!"

"Number 15." A series of voices chorus before music began playing. For the first few seconds, all that can be heard is a form of metallic music, carrying a beat that Sander found himself tapping his foot to. Then the song started.

" _I'm out a luck, out a love. Gotta photograph, picture of… Passion killer… you're too much. You're the only one I want to touch. I see your face every time I dream. On every page, every magazine, so wild and free, so far from me. You're all I want, my fantasy. Oh, look what you've done to this rock n' roll clown. Oh! oh, look what you've done. Photograph! I don't want your… Photograph! I don't need your… Photograph!"_

For the next few minutes, Karel and Sander stare at the radio, listening to the music for a long while. Eventually, the song ends, introduces the song as _Photograph_ by Def Leppard, and the commercial break started. Sander just stares at the radio for a long moment before turning towards Karel, a star-struck look on his face. "That. Was. Absolutely. Amazing." He says, a wistful tone in his voice and a wide smile on his face.

Karel smiles slightly, happy to see Sander not depressed for the time being. "Well, I'm glad to see someone likes that old music. Let's get above deck."

"Thanks, but I'd rather stay here. I want to listen to more of this Casey's music." Sander says then gives his undivided attention to the radio as the commercials end and the next song begins. Karel walks up the wooden staircase and back into the sunlight. He smiles as he watches Kenobi talking with James Potter as the latter steers the ship straight. Their other wizard companion, Argus Filch, is in the corner of the ship, muttering about how his job sucks and how he misses Umbridge's authority.

Karel ignores the hunchbacked man and walks towards Leia as she is sitting at the base of the main mast. "Hey there." He says, sitting next to her.

"Hello." Leia replies, a somewhat giddy tone in her voice. "How is Sander holding up?"

"He's doing good. A little anxious about this war finally being done, and he is listening to my radio."

Leia laughs a little at the remark. "Now that's interesting. He really doesn't like a lot of the music he has heard in his life. It's good to hear that."

Once Leia walks down the steps to fetch Sander for lunch two hours later, the whole group sits on the deck of the ship, eating sandwiches of various kinds, bags of chips, baked potato slices and drinking lemonade. "Well zhen." Anakin says, still practicing his fake accent, "I really like zhe food you have on zis planet."

"Thanks. It's no feast, but it's the best we have." James replies as he bites into a ham and cheese sandwich. Filch is off in the corner, shakily chomping into a large sandwich stuffed with roast beef.

"So, how long will it be until we arrive in America?" Sander asks, his eyes gleaming slightly as the music he listened to played in his mind.

"It will be another half hour or so until we reach Long Island. Considering how remote the island is, I wouldn't be surprised if we encounter an Imperial Army base. So, we will need to be ready for anything they throw at us." James says, a grim expression on his face.

"Hey. I've been meaning to ask. You guys are trained to use the Force to literally rip a hole in reality and teleport long distances. Why couldn't we do the same and go to America?" Kenobi asks.

James sighs. "I wish I could. But the thing about Apparition is that we need to be able to picture where we go in our minds. None of the members of the Order of the Phoenix have ever risked stepping onto American soil, since that is the Mafia's territory. If I tried apparating us there without being able to picture a subtle place to apparate to, I would risk splinching myself and all of you."

"Uh… splinching?" Sander asks, the word sounding foreign on his tongue.

"That is when an apparition goes wrong, and you leave a piece of yourself behind. I heard a story a few years ago that two wizards tried apparating without proper training or imagining where they were going. Let's just say… they were half the men they used to be."

The rest of the meal passes in silence after that. Once everyone has stopped eating the delicious food, the group stands back up and going their separate ways. Kenobi lays his plasma rifle near the steering wheel and stares out at the roaring ocean around them while the others tighten down supplies or fetch their weapons to fight at a moment's notice. Sander goes back down the stairs and fetches his lightsaber. As he grabs his simple silver lightsaber, he looks down at his slender hand and long fingers. The sadness of learning about Windu floods through his mind and he concentrates on his hand. A ball of fire erupts in his palm, but to his great surprise, the fire is a deep blue. Suddenly, an idea came to his mind about what could be included in his ability. Sander closes his eyes and concentrates on his yearning for being somewhere he belongs. He opens his eyes and as he suspected, the fire slowly changes from a deep blue to a deep yellow. "How did you do that?" Sander jumps, hiding the fire behind his back, and whirls around to notice Karel, staring back with a surprised face. "I have never seen such a bright yellow fire before."

"Um… I don't know how it happens, I just can." Sander replies. "I have no idea how I got this ability. What I do know is that I can produce fire on a large scale and manipulate it. And that this ability is a part of me; it can change colors depending on how I feel." He then snorts. "Ironic, considering that I am a Jedi."

"That's an understatement, man." Karel replies, then walks towards his backpack and pulls out a long lightsaber. Sander looks at it and his eyes widen. It is not Karel's crossguard lightsaber, but one of an even older make, with a long shaft and a piece of metal jutting up at the top.

Before Sander can inquire as to why Karel has a second lightsaber, the sounds of stomping can be heard and Filch runs down. "Get your lazy bums up here. We need you up here." He says, jabbing his thumb upward before running with a limp up the stairs.

Sander then looks at Karel. "You've been with them a while."

"Well, I didn't meet all of the Order. I certainly didn't meet him before yesterday." Karel answers, then they start running up the staircases and onto the deck. The Jedi and Filch are leaning against the railings and staring straight ahead, and James steering the ship. The duo rush to the front to see what caught their companions' attention.

Before them is the beach of a vast island, with grey concrete walls standing over 20 feet tall that separate the Imperial base from the sandy beach and the ocean, and a massive rectangular tower is in the center of the wall, with a giant grey canopy covering the top level and a shut gate on the tower's right. Then they notice something that is really wrong; there is a small boat floating in the water, with two older-looking men wandering around frantically. Most of the crew could feel the terror radiating from the ship as the men start sticking harpoons into the water, trying to fend off something.

At first, nothing happens. Then, the back of the boat is suddenly pulled under the water, leaving the screaming men to fall into it. They stop screaming, but the water where they fell in starts to turn red. "Son of a bitch!" Kenobi shouts in surprise, disturbed by what he is seeing.

For several long moments, everybody stares at the sinking boat they are rapidly approaching before the ship lurches to the side. The crew is knocked off their feet instantly. Filch has the unfortunate luck of having a crate full of supplies smash into his back. He screams as he flies across the tilting deck, the crate falling into the water. The aging man manages to hold onto the railing for dear life, his feet dangling above the rushing water.

Before anyone can save him, the water parts ways to reveal a monstrous creature with the most soulless black eyes, the grayest of skin with a white underbelly, coupled with a massive metal ring around its neck with a mounted gun on top. The monster opens its mouth, revealing its many rows of jagged teeth, before biting into Filch's legs.

He screams even louder than before as he is pulled under the water, which also begins turning red. "Distract those sharks! I need to run this ship aground if any of us are going to survive." James shouts, then stares ahead at the island that is getting ever closer.

"I have an idea!" Leia shouts. "Jamez, use the Force to lift those… sharks out of the water. The rest of us will take care of them."

"Right avay." Anakin replies, then lifts his hands into the air. Seconds later, a grey shark with a head shaped like a hammer appears in all its 20-feet glory. Instantly, the ship levels out and everyone is able to stand up straight again.

"I got this!" Kenobi shouts, then runs up to James and grabs the plasma rifle and begins firing on the shark. Unfortunately, because of the ship's constant shaking and how much the shark is flailing around, firing plasma shots from the mounted gun on its head, all six of Kenobi's attempts to shoot the shark miss. "Damn it! This is why I don't use sniper rifles!"

Before the shark can have a chance to break the hold Anakin has on it or the plasma blasts flying in all directions, severely burning any part of the ship it comes in contact with, Karel runs at it. The Jedi can only stare as Karel whips out his second lightsaber. Kenobi stares at the hilt with shock, thinking that Karel had stolen the Darksaber from Supreme Admiral Vizsla. But he is proven wrong when Karel pushes a button on the side and a burnt orange blade shaped exactly like the Darksaber emerges from the hilt, and Karel slashes downward to cut off the plasma cannon before proceeding to stab the blade deep into the shark's head.

It shakes around a little before going still. Karel uses the shark as a springboard to land feet first onto the damaged deck as Anakin releases his Force grip, allowing the shark corpse to splash back into the ocean. "Keep it up. We will stay down here to keep the plasma from hurting the ship too much." Karel shouts up.

The other Jedi nod and begin using the Force to lift any other sharks into the air while Sander runs up the steps. "Mind if I have a turn with that?" He asks.

"If you do, mind if I listen to that music I've heard you've fallen in love with?" Kenobi replies with a sarcastic tone.

"Done." Sander says quickly, the grabs the plasma rifle and begins firing plasma shot after plasma shot. The war-hardened Jedi has to admit that Sander has really improved in firearms use, being able to hit sharks dead-on and knocking out the plasma cannons before the Jedi use their lightsabers to lop off heads. "You know, I have one simple question; why do we have to deal with sharks with freaking laser beams attached to their heads on top of an evil empire? Honestly, I wish I had come with the idea; would have made life easier for all of us." He adds in-between shots, each shot hitting home and severely burning the impacted spot.

This chaos lasts for several long minutes before the ship below them suddenly shakes again and starts lowering. "No, no, no, no." James mutters, his eyes widening in panic and horror. "This can't be happening. One of those stupid sharks must have done more damage to this ship than I expected." He looks up and notices that Long Island is now within a few feet and they are still approaching at break-neck speeds. "Bugger."

The ship instantly crashes against the sandy beach, rubbing against the sand as it dramatically slows the ship's velocity before coming to a stop. "Is everyone okay?" Anakin asks, dropping his fake accent and looking around.

"Ugh. Give me five minutes." Leia mutters as she hauls herself back onto her feet.

"You know, Anakin. This wasn't that bad compared to your crashes." Kenobi comments in a joking manner.

"Zhanks, old man." Anakin replies, reclaiming his fake German accent.

After several minutes, the crew is able to stand up again, fetch what supplies they need, and they jump off the side of the ship. Once they get their first good look at it now, they are suddenly grateful that they made it at all. A large bite had been taken out of the side of the ship, with numerous scorch marks along the hull and a massive dent in the side of the ship is noticeable, with the pieces of the hull sticking into the ship. "Well, there's no going back now." Leia comments.

"Nope." Karel answers, his right hand holding onto a tan strap of his backpack. They stare at the ship for a long moment, noticing that the sun is already setting on the horizon. Then they turn around and begin walking towards the wall.

As they approach it, walking past a massive concrete tunnel that leads under the wall, they notice two men standing at the top of a massive tower that is overlooking the beach. "Man, this blows!" One of the guards shout as the Jedi walk to the tower's base. Silently, Karel activates his lightsaber and uses it to create holes in the wall big enough for him to scale up the wall, using the shade of the base as cover.

"While I do not complain as much as you do, I do share your sentiments." Another male voice, this one deeper and holding a much calmer tone to it, replies.

"Yeah; we're stuck doing this patrol duty since I loaned my flamethrower to the new guy because he thought it looked cool and wanted to use one. How was I supposed to know that he would try using it at the barbecue our superiors held? But hey, at least I got patrol duty with you, buddy."

"And I'm grateful that we don't have to deal with the new guy either." By now, Karel has reached the top of the tower and peaks upward, noticing two fit men wearing standard Imperial Navy chestplates in their early twenties sitting in two chairs as they stare at the sunset.

"Oh my God, I couldn't agree with you more. That Cronut fellow is a fucking weirdo. And don't even get me started on the fact he called me the gas-mask guy. I only wear a gas mask when I'm in training."

Karel smirks slightly, then waves his hand at them. The two soldiers look at each other. "Hey."

"Yeah?" The deeper voiced man replies.

"You…wanna watch some new porn that came out?"

"You read my mind. Let's go steal the Lieutenant's IPad." The duo then stand up and begin to walk away.

"Also, if we meet Cronut, I'm going to tell him that when in the middle of a battle field, I prefer to be called Bravo."

Karel then jumps up onto the top of the wall. He flashes a thumbs up at the Jedi still at the base of the tower. They nod, with them using the Force to extend their jumps, all the while using their lightsabers to bounce from the side of the tower to the smooth wall, making it up the wall in record time. "Well, that could have been worse." Sander says.

Suddenly, James jumps up next to them his robes billowing around him. "Don't say that. It only brings bad luck." He then stares at the sunset. "I can only hope Hailey is okay, helping to protect your fellow Jedi."

"Oh, I'm sure they're fine, dude." Karel answers. "If anything, they will be protecting Hailey and the Order." Deciding to get moving, they run along the top of the wall towards the service ladder that leads into the Imperial training facility.

"Although that does make me wonder." Leia comments. "How are they coming along?"

* * *

 _AN:_ Okay, this is easily my favorite chapter in the whole story! Loved writing every minute of it! And take that for being such a jerk in the books, Filch. Also, some may cry BS because Hagrid can apparate. So let me explain that briefly; Hagrid was already a student at Hogwarts and has proven to be adept that basic charms (except Transfiguration, hehe). I wouldn't be surprised if Hagrid showed the potential on how to apparate.

I hope you liked my tribute to Casey into this story. Rest in peace, friend. May we never forget you or Monty Oum. And the clip of the lyrics of the song in this belong to Def Leppard.

By the way, please don't expect other chapters to come out nearly as quickly as this one did; I just really got into writing it.

*I don't know why, but I just find Ron's statement very funny.

**I added this ability since I still do not know of the full capabilities of Durmstrang's old ship used during the TriWizard Tournament. But hey, if Arthur Weasley could make a flying car that can turn invisible alone, why can't a whole Institution create a ship that can turn invisible?

**Yeah, I updated when the game actually came out to fit this story's timeline.

Anyway, see you all next time when we look at things from the second team's viewpoint.


	29. Chapter 29: Pressing Onward

**November 21st**

 **2000**

 **8:15 pm Gaia Time (Greenwich Mean Time Zone)**

 **Wiltshire, England, Europe**

 **Gaia**

* * *

 **3** **rd** **Person POV:**

* * *

"Is this it?" Albus Dumbledore asks, a hint of confusion on his face.

The last 18 members of the Order of the Phoenix, escorting the four members of the Jedi Order, are standing in a line and directly facing one of the most famous monuments in all of England. "Yes." Mace Windu replies curtly.

"…Stonehenge?" Hailey Potter asks, a little flabbergasted. "Jedi, not to sound rude, but are you sure this is where this Jedi Temple we are searching for is? I don't exactly see a giant structure in the middle of the field."

"It is here." Windu insists, walking forward and gently touching one of the stones on the outer ring. "I can feel the Force pulsing through the very ground beneath my feet. Very rarely have I felt land this connected to the Force in my life."

"What eh strange bunch." Hagrid mutters to Hailey, but it is loud enough for everyone to hear it. The Jedi remain polite and they ignore the comment.

"Alright. So this where the Jedi Temple is, holding any of our hopes to kill the Emperor? How exactly do we plan on making it appear?" Caleb asks, crossing his arms over his chest.

While Windu looks annoyed by the question, Ahsoka Tano and Depa Billaba can't help but realize that he does bring up a good point. "He is correct. Maybe this is all that's left of the Jedi Temple. It's not exactly new." Ahsoka adds, a small smile on her face.

Windu sighs and turns around to face Ahsoka. "I can see that Master Skywalker has rubbed off on you." He then turns around and closes his eyes in concentration. "I sense a disturbance in the Force. I can see a bright light shining in the darkness, and I see four beings reaching out through the darkness, wishing to unlock that light. But each of their roles feels…different." He opens his eyes once more, his eyes gleaming slightly. "I understand now. Caleb, Depa, Ahsoka, follow my lead. Dumbledore, make sure we're not interrupted."

The members of the Order of the Phoenix look at each other with confused expressions, but decide to follow the orders, along with the other three Force-sensitives. "On my command, raise your hands and stretch your senses out for the light. Pull it towards yourself."

Caleb glances up at his master with a confused look on his face. Depa just looks back at her padawan, confused herself, before the trio hold out their right hands and close their eyes and begin concentrating on the Force in perfect sync with Windu. "What in the hell?" Jeff mutters, baffled by what he is witnessing. He is not alone in his train of thought, as almost every member of the Order of the Phoenix, with the exception of Dumbledore, staring at the Jedi as if they had grown second heads.

The trio reach their senses towards for several moments, prodding the living Force around them until they sense something. A massive presence in the light side, suppressed by the darkness that has existed on Gaia for millennia. Without saying anything, the trio lift their hands into the air and concentrate harder than they ever have before. Another long moment passes until the very ground beneath their feet begins shaking violently. Hagrid even lets out a shout of protest since he nearly falls backwards, but manages to stand his ground.

But their protests at what the Jedi are suddenly silenced and all they can do is stare in awe. In the center of Stonhendge, the ground splits open and a massive stone tower in the shape of an extremely small but tall medieval tower. The tower continues rising into the air, shaking the ground violently as it continues to rise up until it stops rising. The ground eventually settles down and silence reigns on the grassy fields of England, Stonhendge miraculously standing tall despite the disturbance and the castle giving off waves of the Force, making the Jedi stagger slightly.

"Bloody hell." Ronald Weasley states, his eyes bulging slightly in abject shock at what he had just witnessed. Many of the Order's members are equally shocked and even Snape's mouth is hanging open slightly.

"I must say, this is most unexpected. How did you know how to summon it?" Dumbledore asks, his eyes showing curiosity rather than shock.

"Because we have a clear connection to the Force, allowing us to listen to its will. The creators left a message in the Force so only those who can listen to it can enter the temple. In my vision, I saw that only a leader who has the courage to guide his allies through the darkest times, a scribe who bears the wisdom of centuries to guide them through the most trying times, a true warrior who holds an unshakable loyalty to her companions, and one who has the cunning and ambition to make a better future may enter this temple and unlock its many secrets." Windu replies, returning his gaze to the medieval-style Jedi Temple and begins walking towards it. "Albus, please stand guard and make sure no unwanted guests arrive before our objective is complete."

Albus also stares at the Temple, but his face holds a much more thoughtful expression as he watches the four Jedi walking towards the gaping entrance. "Strange. It could be coincidence, but those are the very traits the four founders of Hogwarts valued most of all. This is most peculiar."

"I'd say this is pretty bloody bizarre." Hailey snaps. "I just watched a castle rise out of the ground; in the middle of Stonehendge no less! I swear, these Jedi have strange things happen to them, even by our standards." She then starts walking towards one of the stone pillars and sitting down so she could be comfortable while keeping an eye out for Imperial forces.

The four Jedi slowly yet calmly walk through the many rows of stone pillars and towards the gaping entrance to the ancient structure. Then they walk through the large archway, the torches lining the ancient stone walls on the inside remaining dormant and looking like they could crumple to ash at a moment's notice.

Once the Jedi activate their lightsabers to provide more light, all they can do is stare in awe at the chamber around them. The light of their lightsabers reveals a vast stone chamber with tattered banners hanging on the walls, each one different; on the left wall is crimson banner with a gold lion, while is yellow with the image of a badger painted in black. But on the other wall is a deep banner with a bronze eagle, while the final banner is a deep green with a silver snake in the middle. On the far side of the room, where there is a giant stone crucifix sitting on an ancient wooden desk on the far wall of the room, where a giant symbol the Jedi recognize with ease is carved; it is the symbol of the Jedi Order. In the middle of the stone floor, there is a protrusion of stone upward, with a thin slit in the center like something's supposed to fill the slot. But above them, the ceiling is almost missed by the massive illusion of a clear sky, exactly like the sky outside the tower.

Before Caleb could make a sarcastic comment, all four Jedi suddenly feel themselves on guard. They lift up their lightsabers, getting into a circle as the Force swirls violently around them, making their senses tingle violently. Then, before their eyes, the stones just feet in front of the small protrusion starts dissolving, revealing an ancient staircase. The Force sensation then stops swirling around them, then travels down the staircase.

Without looking at each other, the four Jedi follow the Force presence and walk down the staircase, the walls lined with ancient torches, before they reaching the bottom. At the bottom of the staircase is a massive circular chamber with tall columns holding up the ceiling, each column holding a dark lantern. Between each column are gleaming suits of armor, holding swords in their hands with the blades pointed down.

"What is this place?" Depa asks, her curiosity of this particular temple only increasing by the minute.

"You are in our sanctuary." A deep voice says behind them, making the Jedi whirl around and point their lightsabers at the source of the voice. Once Caleb registers what they are looking at, he drops his lightsaber slightly out of shock.

Standing before them is a tall, muscular man with a thick mane of red hair that stretches down into a short beard, a pale face that is starting to show age and sharp green eyes that seem to pierce the Jedi's very souls. He is wearing a set of crimson robes, a crucifix with a ruby dangling around his neck, and thick crimson gauntlets on his arms. "Who are you?" Windu asks, not dropping his guard for a second.

The man chuckles slightly, crossing his arms over his chest. "I suppose it's only fair I introduce myself. My name is Godric Gryffindor and I welcome you to the Jedi Church."

Depa reaches her senses out through the Force, and feels no ill-intentions from the Force spirit so she lowers her lightsaber to her side. Once Ahsoka, Caleb, and Windu come to the same conclusion, they do the same thing. "Thank you for your acceptance, Godric." Depa states kindly.

Ahsoka, however, is confused. "Why do you call it a Jedi Church?"

Godric's smile deepens into a slight frown. "Because this was the place where we learned it all. I was a small lad when I felt the power of the Force, what my people have come to believe as magic, guide me to these ruins. I found an ancient structure in the middle of Stonehendge, abandoned for centuries but so connected to magic that the muggles wouldn't dare set foot near this church. It was on that day that I met those who would become my greatest friends. Helga Hufflepuff, Rowena Ravenclaw, and Salazar Slytherin. They did not have much bravery, but we somehow managed to maintain our bond. Together, we spent decades learning the secrets of the ones who brought us humans to Earth, the Jedi. We rebuilt this desolate place into a castle where we could safely attain a greater connection to God, the entity who alone controls the Force."

"Once we had learned everything all that we could, we considered ourselves the greatest witches of our lifetime." Godric continues, then lets out a bitter laugh filled with regret. "We were not fools. We knew that we would not be coming back in our physical bodies, so we combined our knowledge of magic and sealed the Church so deep under the surface no one could find it. Then we used our knowledge to create a new castle, one where we could teach the ways of magic to students for centuries to come. We called it Hogwarts." Godric then lets out a long sigh. "But in the end, it was our arrogance that tore us apart. Salazar believed that only those who had magic in their blood could use it to benefit the world while those who are born from muggles would misuse the power for their own self-gain. Once our legacy was established and we taught the first generation of witches and wizards, we passed on in peace. My old friends are now in the heavens while I have remained here, waiting until the power of this Church is released and I can also move on."

Silence reigns in the chamber as the four Jedi process what they heard. "When you were alive, were you a Jedi?" Depa asks hesitantly.

"…No. Unlike my friends, I wanted to learn all of the arts of the Jedi, including combat. I never had the resources to make my own lightsaber, so I had the goblins forge me a sword that could compare to a lightsaber. To make sure the enchantments on my blade could endure for centuries to come, I embedded a reed kyber crystal from a Sith lord that had been asleep for centuries. She was a fool whose arrogance led to her downfall."

"Say, where are…" Ahsoka starts asking, but quiets upon seeing the glare from Windu.

"While we could spend all day talking, we need to bring the Force back into this temple."

Godric's face hardens in an instant. "I agree, Windu. I have seen the actions of the one known as Darth Kadabra, and his evil must be stopped by unlocking the power of this temple. But to prove yourselves worthy of the knowledge in these walls, you must pass a test of courage. Windu, since you are the one who leads the Jedi, you should be the one to take the test. If you would follow me." He then walks towards a far wall where the stone wall slides apart to reveal a chamber completely shrouded in light. Staring at the back of the Force spirit hesitantly, Windu follows close behind.

The other three Jedi watch as Windu walks through the light, and the wall closes behind them, returning the chamber to darkness. "You know? I'm wondering why we even bothered to come at all." Ahsoka states, then decides to sit down with her legs crossed and closes her eyes.

"Well, I certainly hope that Sander is having a better time than we are." Caleb adds, then also gets into a meditative position and slows his breathing, taking in the feeling of the Force.

* * *

 **Outside Imperial Army Training Facility**

 **Montauk Beach, Long Island, New York, United States of America**

 **Gaia**

 **3:20 pm Gaia Time (Eastern Time Zone)**

* * *

"What is with these people?" Sander mutters repeatedly, running for his life through the thick forest.

Behind him are James Potter and the disguised Obi-Wan Kenobi, Anakin Skywalker, Karel Allusis, and Leia Haggar. They are running as fast as they can to avoid the carnage that is breaking out across the nearby Imperial Army base, the angry shouts of people killing each other senselessly. While the Jedi waited in the weapons depot for the base to become lax enough for a silent escape, the two guards were caught stealing their commanding officer's IPad, resulting in the entire base being told by the duo that their CO is a porn star. To make matters worse, the CO was also revealed to be the main star in one of the most famous videos, along with almost half of every soldier, both male and female. The outrage that resulted caused many condescending phrases to be thrown around and soldiers started beating each other down, some even resorting to firearms, so they could take the Imperial transports back to Manhattan so they could also get their fair share.

The Jedi and James continue running as far away from the base as possible, not wanting to be caught in the middle of that carnage. As they continue running, they make it out of the thick forest and come across a flat gravel road with a single red pick-up truck parked in the middle with two men standing in front of the truck, staring at the Jedi in shock. "What in Sam Hill is going on?" One of the men asks.

His partner doesn't have time to respond before James lifts up a plasma rifle he stole from the base and fires two plasma shots at the men standing near the red truck. The shots hit the mens' thighs and they fall to the ground while massaging the castrated yet bloody wounds that punch through both sides of their thighs. "Get in!" James shouts as he jumps into the driver's seat. Sander uses the Force to leap onto the back, along with Obi-Wan, Leia, and Anakin. Karel, however, gets himself seated in the passenger's seat. "Sorry about that!" James shouts as he puts the car in reverse, turns around and drives down the slightly bumpy road and away from the carnage.

As they are driving away, the Jedi in the back of the truck stare at the forest as someone shouts very loudly, "I'm sorry! Please let me help you get those balls out of you!" This was followed by a woman in Imperial Army armor running out of the forest seconds later, screaming loudly and pulling at something on her back until the two sticky grenades on her back explode, blue fire engulfing her corpse which falls forward.

"What is with this system?" Anakin asks incredulously.

"I don't know." Leia replies, baffled at the chaos they used as a distraction to leave the base unnoticed. As the truck drives down the bumpy road, those who are sitting in the back are watching as the last light of the day dissipates and gives way to night.

"So, where are we going to go?" James asks as he continues driving down the road at speeds that would get him thrown in prison.

"We need to recharge before we confront the Emperor. I have a contact here in New York who has no love for this Empire. He is a waiter at a small diner on the edge of Brooklyn called the Winchester."

"Okay. Well, then you better get some rest. This is gonna be a long ride." James replies then pays closer attention to the road as they pass through a small town. Karel leans back in his seat and closes his eyes as the lights of the buildings and passing cars flash by in an instant.

The drive continues on for over two hours until James pulls the truck to the side of a grassy curb, near a two-story black building on the edge of a small port overlooking the bay, the words 'Winchester Restaurant and Pub' written in gold and lit up by luminescent lights. As the truck pulls to the curb, it starts sputtering as the truck comes to a complete stop. "Great. At least we got here in one piece." He then looks closer at the nudges Karel. "Hey. Wake up." Karel lets out a slight moan before his eyes flutter open. "Well, the good news is that we got to your place. The bad news is that we are out of gas, so we will need a new ride."

"…Leave that to me. I'll wake the others. Stay here and look for any fishy activity." He mumbles, a distant expression on his face as he opens the door and walks to the back of the truck. At this point, the Jedi who had been riding in the back are now lying on their sides, fast asleep. "Alright, dudes. Nap time's over."

The Jedi in the back sit up, rubbing their eyes slightly, before they jump out of the back and get their first good look of their surroundings. "Where are we?" Obi-Wan asks while Sander re-adjusts the crown to sit just right on his head.

"Well, Leonard, we are near New Portsmouth, a rather young port-side town." Karel whispers, getting close enough so everyone could hear what he is saying without saying it too loudly. "That is the Winchester. It may not look like much, but this is our only shot if we are going to reach Manhattan Island without being discovered."

"And who vill zhese place help us exactly?" Anakin asks, sounding a little tired and confused.

"I have an acquaintance who works here. While we may not exactly see eye to eye, the dude can help us out. If he wants to."

"Great." Sander states. "Real confidence builder right there."

"Come on, dudes. This is gonna be fun. I get to show you what a diner is supposed to look like." He then leads the four Jedi through the parking lot, past the many rows of trucks and towards the bar with the numerous coming out of the windows.

Suddenly, the double doors under the illuminated sign burst open and a sleazy-looking man wobbles out, holding a bottle in his hand. "Hey. What are you looking at?" He asks sharply once he notices the Jedi staring at him with odd expressions.

"Nothin', man." Karel replies, trying his best to change his accent a little. "I was comin' in to satisfy my munchies."

The drunk man grunts. "Knock yourself out." As the Jedi walk towards the black front doors, the man keels over and starts retching violently and loudly.

The Jedi stare at the scene with wide eyes before focusing their attention on the inside of the pub. It is a rather spacious diner with checkered floors, a long wooden bar directly in front of them with tall wooden stools lining the bar, on the right of the bar, in its own room, is a massive pool table surrounded by ten older men in biking outfits holding pool sticks, and many red-cushioned booths lining the walls. Many waitresses are walking around, giving food to the hungry patrons. The most interesting aspect of the bar is that on the far-left side of the bar, there is a small stage and that a holographic image of four men wearing black clothes with silver lining of various designs and have their faces painted in such a bizarre fashion that Anakin briefly mistook them for an alien species that he had never seen before. Three of them are playing their electric guitars masterfully while the fourth is playing on a set of drums. The man who is standing just a little bit in front of the other two is holding a microphone and music is blaring in the dimly lit diner.

" _Everybody shout it out now. Shout it, shout it, shout it out loud! Oh yeah, shout it. Shout it. Shout it out loud! Hear it gettin' louder, shout it. Shout it. Shout it out loud! And everybody shout it now. Shout it!"_

As the song ends, the holographic projection of the four men dissipates and vanishes, leaving the empty stage. Everybody in the diner stops what they are doing and start cheering loudly for the music, among them being Sander with his eyes aglow. After a few seconds, the cheering dies down and everyone starts doing what they were doing before. Suddenly, a new voice blares out of the speakers. "And that was **Shout It Out Loud** by Kiss. Upcoming are more '80s classic hits, right after this brief commercial break."

Then the speakers go out and the whole diner is in silence. Awkwardly, the Jedi, led by Karel, walk towards the bar and get themselves seated. The waitress, who is wearing the same jet-black suit jacket over a white button-down shirt and a short skirt, immediately walks up to them. "Hello. How may I help you all?" She then looks at the Jedi and barely even raises an eyebrow at their choices of clothing.

"Yes. I would like to order the bowl of baked potato soup. And they will have the fish and chips." Karel says quickly, pointing to the four Jedi.

The waitress nods, whips out a notepad and writes the order down on it before walking through the open doorway leading to the kitchens. "What a place." Kenobi mutters, looking around and seeing the people going about their business as usual. Deciding to risk it, he then takes his helmet off and sets it down at the bar next to him.

"I'd buy that for a dollar." One of the men at the pool table shouts in the pool room, making everyone else in the room laugh like idiots. He then walks out of the room to fetch a bottle of beer sitting there and notices Kenobi. "Hey, you!" He shouts, walking toward the Jedi. Kenobi looks up at the buff man who is standing a whole foot taller than the Jedi. "Do I know you?"

"No, you don't." Kenobi states, looking back at the bar. But then the man grabs Kenobi's shoulder and pulls him back towards the man.

"Yeah, I remember now. You look like that Jedi general everyone's talking about. What was his name, Kentori or something?"

"Please." Kenobi replies bluntly. "I'm just an actor who decided to myself up like the Jedi Kenobi. Besides, if I was the real Kenobi, I wouldn't be walking around without a better disguise, would I?"

The buff man looks thoughtful for several moments, then laughs hard and slaps Kenobi on the back. "You have a point. Say, could you tell me the name of the doctor who gave you that plastic surgery? That dude certainly did a number on you." He then picks up his beer bottle and heads back to the room with the pool table.

The Jedi continue to sit at the bar patiently for a good five minutes before a different waiter walks out of the kitchen, carrying a tray laden with plates and a bowl. The waiter himself is a rather tall and built man in his late 20s, with short, messy light sandy brown hair, a small stubby beard that is the thickest on his chin, and the most vibrant deep blue eyes the Jedi have ever seen. He sets the bowl of soup and a spoon on top of a napkin in front of Karel's spot before giving the fish and chips to the Jedi.

But as he sets the plate in front of Sander, the man gets a good, long look at the boy's face. The waiter's eyes dilate to the point of being as big as dinner plates, and he lets out a silent gasp. What really caught the Jedi's attention was that they felt the amount of shock at seeing Sander's face. "Um… are you okay?" He asks, looking confused and mildly concerned.

The man suddenly regains control of his breathing. "Of course I am. It's just that… we don't get many children here." He replies, then looks at the Jedi. "I assume that he's with you guys."

"You betcha." Leia replies, winking in a flirting manner. "I'm Hart, by the way. Harriet Hart." She then wraps an arm around Sander, pulling him to the side a little. "And this is my son, Ryan Haywood Jr."

The man stares at Leia, his eyes flashing dangerously before a small smile forms on his face. "Of course. Enjoy."

Since none of the Jedi knew when they would be getting to eat next, they tear into their meals with great zeal, occasionally drinking from the tall glasses of water they also received. Within minutes, they are finished and the waiter stares with a baffled expression before smiling. "Well, you certainly enjoyed it." He then grabs the plates and walks away.

Karel then puts down his napkin down on his plate before standing up. "Well, dudes. I just realized that I forgot where I put my stash. Could you help me find it?" He says.

After the Jedi nod and they are about to stand up, Kenobi putting his helmet back on, the ten motorcyclists walk out of the pool room, still laughing. "Hey there, hot stuff." One of the motorcyclists who has shoulder-length black hair that is starting to grey states, walking over to Leia. "You look lost. I could give you some company."

To her credit, Leia manages a warm smile. "Why, yes I am. I am looking for the nicest place to spend a day to shop in peace."

The motorcyclist scoffs slightly. "Do ya think I'm an idiot? Manhattan Island is the place to go. It's that way."

"Um, that way?" Leia asks, then nods. "Thanks, I'll be heading there now."

As she's getting up to leave the diner, the man grabs her arm. "Actually, I was wondering if you would like to join us for a drink. We haven't gotten ours yet."

"Um, no. I will be going now. Come, Ryan." She says, then pulls her arm out of his grip as Sander walks forward. Slowly, he reaches for the lightsaber hidden under his kilt in the eventuality of an encounter.

"Hey, babe. What's your problem?" Another man, this one having black hair and a darker skin tone asks, stepping forward.

Leia stares at each face of the motorcyclists, Sander and the other Jedi staring at the confrontation with growing anxiety and waiting to see who breaks the ice first. In the end, Leia replies. "I'm an atheist whore who is currently enjoying a very pleasurable bisexual congress out of wedlock with my sexy girlfriend who loves cats, has a fetish for monkeys, and likes to hunt monsters for a living. So, all hail Kadabra, and have a lovely evening, sir.*"

No one moves a muscle as they all stare with narrowing eyes and dumbfounded expressions at Leia after she makes her announcement. She just gives a small smile and just stares at them with a charming smile on her face. But after a few seconds, the first motorcyclist steps forward with a savage smirk on his face. "Is that so? Okay, then. Suck my northern pole, bitch."

The tension is starting to steadily rise in the room as Leia just stands there, her smile fading into a frown as the motorcyclists start spreading out. Then she turns around and grabs the doors and starts locking them shut. "It seems that you boys have never heard of a little thing called manners. Let me teach you all about that."

The motorcyclists look at each other with confused expressions. Then their leader speaks up.. "I don't care who the fuck you think you are. This is our bar, and you don't get to…" He is interrupted when Leia grabs a nearby chair and slams it into the man's head. The power behind the impact sends him falling to the ground and out cold. By now, everyone just stares at the carnage that is happening without paying attention at all to what they were doing previously.

"So, are you going to stand around all night like idiots. Or are we going to fight?" She then asks, getting into a fighting stance while the voice over the speaker rings out once again.

"And now, here's Kono, the official '80s radio station. Take it away!"

Then the holographic projection flares to life once more. But unlike the last song that played, there is now a darker-skinned man with curly black hair, wearing a rather large red vest with black highlights, long red pants and black shoes standing on the stage. Several tense seconds pass as the two sides stare each other down, while the music continues playing. _"They told him don't you ever come around here. Don't want to see your face, you better disappear. The fire's in their eyes and the words are really clear. So beat it, just beat it."_

Once the lyrics start, the first motorcyclist throws a right hook at Leia's face, only for the blonde Jedi to duck under the punch. She then straightens herself up and punches the man in his jaw. The power behind the punch is so extreme that a tooth goes flying out of his mouth, blood spiraling in all directions before the dentine tips impale themselves into the eye of an unfortunate gangster who is standing off to the side. He recoils from the attack, screaming in pain while Leia lunges forward and punches another man in the face. He goes flying backwards, smashing into the table and rolling backwards before collapsing face-first.

The rest of the motorcyclists lunge in at once to try and take her down, but Leia starts blocking each of their punches before she jumps into the air and does a spinning kick into the side of another gangster's head. He instantly goes sprawling, knocking every standing member of the gang to the ground. The member who hit on Leia gets back up and runs forward, holding a pool stick over his head before bringing it down on the female Jedi. Unfortunately for him, Leia rips the pool stick out of his hands, smashes the stick to pieces after she slashes it into his stomach. It shatters, with splinters flying in all directions and she then stabs it into his right leg. While he lets out a final moan of agony, Leia grabs him and punches him in the stomach, sending him and another motorcyclist who is getting back up and they both smash through the window behind them, smashing it and falling out of the diner as the song that was being played finishes. Leia stands amidst the carnage she created, searching for any more who are willing to fight while the flabbergasted looks on everyone's faces. Sander, however, is blushing up a storm and has an absolutely mortified look on his face. Leia then looks up, a sheepish look on her face. "Sorry about the mess. I had a bad week, so I needed to vent out on somebody. How much do you want in compensation?"

The crowd looks at each other before an older man with thinning grey hair, thick black square glasses, and is wearing an expensive suit stands up. "You know, miss? As manager, I can make sure that you and your friends will have your meals and drinks on the house. It's about time someone stood up those rapscallions."

"You know?" Sander says, his voice an octave higher than usual, "I think we should be leaving now."

He then walks towards the doors, unlocks them, and runs out as fast as he can. The Jedi do the same with Leia being in the back of the group. The waiters and waitresses start muttering with each other, amazement on their faces while the patrons just stare at the dismantled room. She even hears someone mutter, "Poor kid."

The Jedi then step out of the bar, taking in a deep breath at being out of the bar while the two motorcyclists are lying on the ground with large shards of glass lying around them, unconscious and hugging each other. "I have several questions. The most important of them all is this; have you ever fucking heard of the word 'subtle?'" A voice states. The Jedi tense up and turn towards the waiter who served their meals.

"Who are you?" Kenobi asks warily, gripping his lightsaber.

"Whoa, man. Calm down." Karel says, getting between the Jedi and the waiter. "This is my contact. His name is Daniel Gecko, and he can get us to Manhattan Island."

Daniel nods. "Yes, but we won't have much time. I would be damn shocked if the Emperor hasn't already learned of your presence here. Luckily, I know my way around the city so I can tell you where your destination is."

"But how will we get there? Our truck isn't going anywhere and we can't exactly steal someone else's car." Kenobi asks.

Daniel smirks slightly. "Simple. Follow me." He then walks away from the group and heads towards the back of the diner.

"Hold on. I need to fetch my bub real quickly. Be right back, dudes." Karel states, then runs towards the red truck where James is staring at the Jedi with stunned expressions. After the duo talk for a few minutes, they follow the rest of the group.

Daniel leads the Jedi through the parking lot, after-which they stop near a large, silver truck that looks big enough to house the entire group and many more. "Zhat looks ztupid. Vhy should we take zis?" Anakin asks, looking at it with mild irritation.

"Oh, what, you think flying around in a fucking saucer like the Jetsons do will keep your cover?" Daniel asks sarcastically. "And admittedly, the fuel and engines of automobiles has drastically improved since the Empire took charge, so the speeds it can go will compensate. Hop on." He then swings the door open and stands aside to allow his guests to enter.

James walks on-board first, followed by the Jedi with Sander at the back. Daniel stares at Sander's back for several long moments before closing the door and walking to the driver's seat. When they are on-board, they look around. For a portable home, it is extremely organized, with a large kitchen in the back with a fridge and microwave, a small bed in the corner with a closed oak wardrobe in the opposite corner. To top it all off, the floor is tiled like a checkers board.

"Well, this is nice." Sander states, sitting on the bed and looking out.

"Too nice." Kenobi states suspiciously, taking off his helmet. He uses the Force to pull down the slot so he can talk with Daniel. "Pardon my intrusion, Mr. Gecko, but how did you pay for this? The van is too clean for a simple waiter to maintain."

Daniel lets out a sigh. "Well, you're right. I'm not just a waiter. I'm also a smuggler from time to time."

"What!" Karel shouts. "The last time I saw you, you promised that you would keep a low profile!"

Daniel scoffs. "What? And let those rich, shit-headed lackeys of Kadabra do whatever they want when they want? It feels so satisfying to do a job that knocks them down a notch from time to time." The engines then turn on, and the RV pulls out of the diner and starts driving down the roads at alarming speeds, towards Manhattan Island and to find the Emperor himself.

* * *

 **Gaia Jedi Church**

 **10:15 Gaia Time (Greenwich Mean Time Zone)**

 **Wiltshire, England, Europe**

* * *

Ahoska Tano, Depa Billaba, and Caleb Dume continue sitting on the cold stone ground, meditating on the Force's will.

Although at this point, Caleb is having a hard time continuing his meditation due to his growing impatience. "I can't take this anymore." Caleb states, standing up and startling the other two Force-users out of their shallow meditations. "We are just sitting here, waiting for something to happen. I want to go up top, and do anything that could help." While Depa would normally reprimand her padawan for this outburst, she too is starting to grow anxious. It has been too quiet for too long.

Before anyone could come up with a solution as to what to do, the lanterns hanging on the chandeliers suddenly light up the room, burning with bright golden flames. The stone wall directly opposite to the stone staircase suddenly splits open, revealing the wall of white light Windu walked through hours before. Seconds later, Master Windu stumbles through. While he looks perfectly fine, he is clutching his left arm as if in pain. The three Jedi immediately stand up and run towards the Jedi Master. He pushes off Caleb's offer to help him. "Windu, it's good to see you again. What happened in your vision?" Ahsoka asks, curiosity on her face.

Windu looks at her with an irritated look on his face. "I set the spirit of Godric free from the world, and have seen a world where the Force has no presence on this planet. I see now, more than ever, that this planet needs the Force in order for there to be peace, to prevent the evil that could consume this world from spreading."

Caleb opens his mouth to ask for more details on what he exactly means, but then they hear loud explosions, and the ground starts shaking with some dust raining down from the ceiling. "Caleb, it looks you are about to get what you asked for." Ahsoka remarks, before the quartet run up the staircase, past the now-lit torches and return to the base level. Just as the Jedi reach the top level, a thick mist sets in on the staircase and hangs along the ground, they run out of the front gates.

Once they reach the outside world, they stop and watch the carnage that breaks out around them. The wizards are now hiding behind the stone structures of Stonehendge, hiding from the large blue balls of plasma that are flying in all directions. "How did they find us?" Windu barks to the nearest Order member, who was Hailey.

She looks back at the Jedi before stepping out of cover to fire her magnum pistol, resulting in an officer shouting in pain, and immediately steps back behind cover. "Well, we weren't exactly hiding our presence well. That temple is giving off almost painful waves of magic." She replies, wincing slightly before she ducks out but immediately ducks behind once again when a plasma shot passes by.

The Jedi pull out their lightsabers and ignite them. But before they jump out and prepare to attack the Imperial forces when the plasma shots suddenly stop. The Order members stop firing back, confused by the brief standoff. Slowly, Dumbledore pulls out a long, silver broadsword with the hilt studded with rubies and holds it close.

Suddenly, an explosion of the Dark Side of the Force's presence occurs and everyone in the clearing winces slightly from the massive presence that is making its way towards them. "Greetings, Order of the Phoenix." A deep, almost snake-like, voice calls to them.

The members of the Order freeze up, and the look on Ron's face turns to one of anger while Hailey gently grabs Ron's hand and squeezes it. The Jedi look confused at the Order's reactions, but hold their lightsabers up and stare at the presence that is slowly approaching them.

Within seconds, a single man walks into the clearing, glaring at each of the Order members with hate. The man, who is wearing long blue robes with gold highlights, has reptilian-like yellow eyes, a long white beard with a bald spot on the top, and holding a long green staff shaped like a cobra. "You managed to survive longer than most rebels and evade me. Your ability to adapt almost makes me hate killing you, but it is my Emperor's command." He then lifts up his staff and strikes it on the ground. The result is a massive shock wave that sends the wizard flying away from the elderly man, but the Jedi are prepared and brace themselves, managing not to get blown back.

"I don't know who you think you are, but we will stop you!" Caleb shouts, getting into a battle -stance.

The old man looks at the Jedi and his face curls into a small smile. "Ah, if it isn't the great Jedi. I am honored to finally be in your presence at last."

"You shouldn't be." Depa replies, squaring her emotions and pointing her lightsaber at his chest. "The Empire you serve shall fall. If we have to die to make sure that you pay the price for every tyrannical act you have done, then so be it."

The Order members stare at the exchange, along with the Imperial troops forming a ring around them. After several long moments, the old man starts snickering before exploding into full-blown laughter. But not a happy laugh; it was an insane laugh that sent chills down everyone's spines. "Oh, that's rich! I assume you refer to your friends and the traitor who thought that helping you would forgive the things he's done. Yes, we are fully aware of their presence here and that they are on their way to the Emperor. Rest assured, they will be dealt with appropriately. And this place…" The man looks at the Jedi Church. "I only sense the light from this place. It must be destroyed, along with all of you."

The then looks at the Imperial troops behind him. "Agent Illinois, kill the Order of the Phoenix." He then looks at the Jedi and Dumbledore and he licks his mouth slightly. "Leave the Jedi and Dumbledore to me."

* * *

 _AN:_ Well, this took a lot longer to get out than usual. But my school semester is over and now I can relax. Sorry if it wasn't the best chapter, but I can assure you; the next few chapters will be action-packed to be point of being contagious!

I have also decided that I will continue with the Q&A next chapter, but that I will only answer the questions of the previous chapters. Well, that's all on that.

I will see you all next time when the Jedi finally confront Emperor Kadabra and all paths come together.

*I was spoofing a certain spy movie when I came up with this statement. If you know which movie I'm referencing, good on you. I don't know why, but I saw this joke apply to her more than the others, thus I have planned everything it way it is set up for months now.


	30. Chapter 30: The Battle of Gaia - Part 1

**November 21** **st**

 **2000**

 **5:15 pm Gaia Time (Eastern Time Zone)**

 **Manhattan Island**

 **New York, United States of America**

 **Gaia**

* * *

 **3** **rd** **Person POV:**

* * *

Daniel Gecko drives his RV along the black paved freeways while the rest of the Jedi and their wizard companion sit in the back, talking silently among each other. He stares at the street with the lights from the lamps on the opposite side of the road providing illumination, a deeply distant expression on his face.

He remains in his thoughts for several long minutes until he snaps out of it when he notices the enormous skyscrapers of the approaching island of Manhattan. With a small smile on his face, he drives over the massive bridge stylized like the Golden Gate Bridge. His smile vanishes as the RV arrives on the last stretch of bridge, where a massive checkpoint is waiting for him, guarded by a dozen Imperial troops. He taps the back of the window and flips down the hatch. "Hey. Whatever you do, don't make a sound." He then pulls the hatch up and rolls down the window as the RV pulls to a stop and a soldier walks up to him.

"State your purpose." The guard says coldly.

"I am just coming to visit an old buddy of mine in the city. By the way, when did this whole checkpoint bullshit start?"

"Yesterday, upon Supreme Admiral Vizsla's orders. Rebel cells across Gaia have been acting up. Until our great Army sweeps the scum away, extra security is needed."

Daniel nods in understanding. "I see. I suppose you would want to see this as well." He then reaches into the pockets of his pants and pulls out a black leather wallet. Flipping it open, he finds his identification card with his image on it. He pulls the card out of the wallet and gives it to the guard. He takes the card and swipes it on the side of his portable computer. The soldier stares at it for a long moment before a green light washes over his face and the portable computer lets out a series of beeps.

"Well, looks like your papers are in order. Move along. Next!" The soldier stands aside and the metal spikes that once lined the road slowly lower until they are of no hazard. Daniel nods in gratitude, then puts his foot on the gas and drives the RV through the checkpoint and down the remainder of the bridge while the other cars get processed.

As he continues driving down the dark roads of Manhattan, he takes in the sight of the massive buildings that stand dozens of stories tall, with no signs of natural life anywhere. As the Jedi stare out at the tall shops and massive grey buildings lit up with orange lights, they can't help but feel reminded of the streets of Coruscant.

After a half hour, Daniel stops the RV at the edge of the Hudson River. "All right. You can get out now. I've got to take care of something." He says. The Jedi and wizard immediately comply, getting out of the RV and standing out on the side. Daniel just sits in his van, rubbing the steering wheel for a long moment. "You've done me well. But it's time we go our separate ways." He then holds out his hand. A metal rod flies into his hand and he perches it so that the rod is firmly pressing against the gas pedal. As the RV starts back up, Daniel opens the driver's door and jumps out of the seat.

The RV starts back up and drives over the concrete barriers and right into the river. It floats in the water for a brief second before it sinks into the river.

The Jedi and wizard also stare at the action, shocked. "What was the meaning for that?" Sander asks, his eyebrow raised slightly.

Daniel looks back at the boy, and smiles slightly. "Covering our tracks. Honestly, I may not spout non-sensible prophecies like the oracles of old did, but I can already tell you that nothing will be the same around here, whether or not your Republic Army succeeds in its invasion. So, are we going to get this show on the fucking road or not?"

The Jedi look at each other before they look back. "We appreciate all you have done for us, Daniel. But I think it would be best if you stayed out of sight until this whole mess has blown over." Kenobi says, not liking what he said but knowing it's true.

Daniel just stares at the Jedi incredulously. "Are you serious right now? I just helped you get here, and now you just want to set me aside? What a rip-off."

Kenobi steps forward and places a hand on the younger man's shoulder reassuringly. "No, Daniel. We thank you very much for your help in getting us this far, but we can't ask you to risk your life any further. We are about to face off with Emperor Kadabra; we can't guarantee anything in the fight to come. The whole galaxy hangs in the balance."

Daniel looks up at Kenobi, a look of surprise on his face. He then contemplates those words for several long moments before he makes his choice. "All right. But I want James there to come with me, and help the American branch of rebels fight the Imperial forces. I'm not going to sit on my ass while you have all the fun."

"Can ve go now?" Anakin asks, staring at the city and the skyscrapers that were built even taller than in the days before the Empire's rise.

"Yes. I wish you the best of luck in your mission." Daniel says, smiling slightly. As the Jedi start walking away from the bank of the river, he places a hand on Leia's shoulder. She turns around, ready to get into another brawl, but the expression on his face makes her hesitant. "Hold on. I want to ask something real quick." He says, then leans in to whisper. "Whatever you do, promise me that your boy, Ryan, has a happy life."

"Why do you care so much about that?" Leia whispers back, deeply suspicious and confused about this request.

"Because I had a little boy in my life. He left my life many years ago; he'd be about Ryan's age right now. I made many mistakes in my life, especially as a father, and I believe that one must be aware of the past in order for there to be a secure future." The pain in his voice catches Leia by surprise, but she smiles slightly.

"Of course. I promise." Leia replies. Satisfied, Daniel lets go of Leia's shoulder and she returns to her companions.

"What was that about?" Sander asks, looking at Daniel with suspicion.

Leia shrugs. "Nothing. It's no big deal."

While the Jedi don't really look convinced by it, they just shrug it off and return to the massive city, with Daniel and James standing on the beach. Luckily, because it is so late, nobody is around to see the oddly-dressed Jedi making their way down the long concrete sidewalks, following Karel to the tallest skyscraper on the entire island. "The Empire State Building." Karel says, looking up at the top and barely seeing the tip. "It was once one of the most famous places in the entire nation. Hundreds of people would come to Manhattan and see it, among other national monuments. Now, ever since the Empire has taken over, it has gained the infamous reputation of being an apartment center for the highest officials of the Empire."

"And that's where the Emperor is?" Kenobi asks, starting to feel a hint of suspicion in the back of his mind.

"Since a major meeting of the Imperial Senate is about to happen, yes. Though do keep your senses clear; I'd be shocked if he hasn't sensed our presence yet." Karel adds, as he reaches into his jeans pocket, fiddling with the lightsaber that is in his pocket.

As they make their way towards the main entryway of the Empire State Building, they notice a receptionist standing off to the side and staring at them with a raised eyebrow. "I'm sorry. But are you looking to meet someone?"

Anakin steps forward and waves his hand at the receptionist's face. "You will allow us entry to Emperor Kadabra's complex."

The Force instantly breaks the man's mind, and his eyes glaze over. "I will allow you entry to Emperor Kadabra's complex." He then presses several buttons on his console, and the elevator on the far side of the granite-walled level slides open.

"Thank you." Leia asks, deciding to give the man a wink before the group walk across the tiled floors and into the elevator. The doors close and the elevator starts riding up the elevator higher and higher. All of the Jedi fiddle with their lightsabers, getting themselves mentally prepared for the fight. Suddenly, after two solid minutes, the elevator jolts to a stop and the doors swing open.

Standing there, framed in the doorway and standing in the middle of a wide-tiled corridor, is Darth Siren. Her black robes hang loosely at her side, long blonde falling down her back, with a slight smirk on her face. Held in her right hand, pointed away from her body, is an activated staffsaber, with its blades giving off a blood red glow. "You." Leia says, activating her purple lightsaber.

"Me." Siren says, smirking even wider. "Look what I have dragged into my cage."

"No." Karel says, stepping forward. "I will take care of her. You go on ahead." The four Jedi look at each other, uncertain that this is the best choice. But then Karel activates the strange orange blade in his hands, and sets his backpack on the far wall. "I said, I'll take care of her. Go."

The Jedi decide to go for it, and run through the large, tiled corridor as Karel and Siren start dueling each other, their blades crashing against each other and leaving deep gashes on the walls. The Jedi then run towards a glass wall that allows the large and royalty-quality suite a view of all Manhattan, where a maintenance lift is waiting for them. "Thank goodness! This was getting itchy." Sander remarks as he pulls out his lightsaber from under his kilt and slashes at the glass door before pushing on the glass. The circle that was cut slides out of the glass wall and it starts falling towards the ground. "Uh…we're very high." He adds, the color draining from his face.

"I've got you." Leia says, grabbing her padawan and pulling him onto the lift, with Obi-Wan and Anakin also stepping on. Anakin then lifts his hands and the lift suddenly starts rising into the air, going higher and higher as they head to the top floor where they feel the Force rolling in waves. Suddenly, a massive spike of Force energy appears from their side and a sharp pillar of ice shoots out from one of the floors. It impacts the lift and sends it flying far from the building.

The Jedi hold onto the steel wires for dear life, screaming as they start flying towards the building. Leia barely manages to hold her padawan and herself onto the platform, even when glass rains down on them. The impact also causes Obi-Wan and Anakin to crash into the empty, frozen suite and encounter Empress Kione standing in the middle, wearing regal and form-fitting black armor with her long white hair flowing. "Well, hello, boys. I hope you're ready to have some fun." She then pulls out her lightsaber and activates it.

"Keep going! We'll catch up with you!" Kenobi shouts, throwing his sniper rifle aside and activating his lightsaber along with Anakin. Leia and Sander look at each other before nodding. Sander then uses the Force to leap into the air before gripping the steel wires tightly. Leia does the same and they start climbing up the steel wires, holding out their lightsabers and activating them. Leia then cuts a deep slash into the glass pane and uses the Force to push inward.

The glass shatters, flying inward and spilling across the carpeted floor. Leia and Sander then jump into the suite and activate their lightsabers. They can't see anyone in the room, but the massive presence hasn't decreased at all. "Keep your eyes out. He could be anywhere in here." Leia says, activating her blue lightsaber along with Sander.

Before they could search the room more thoroughly, a familiar yet chilling voice rings out around the room. "I most certainly am." The two Jedi suddenly go flying and crash into the glass wall on the right, not able to move. The world before them ripples and Darth Kadabra himself appears before him. He looks exactly as Leia and Sander remember him, except for the fact he looks older and wearing a thick black chestplate with black arm braces. "You certainly took your time getting here." He then pauses to take in Leia's attire. "But I must say, I was not expecting you to look like this." He then looks at Sander, who has a defiant expression on his face. "Ah, yes. Sander… Blanco, is it? I have watched your rather colorful career in the Clone Wars with great interest."

Sander then smirks slightly. "Aw, what's the matter? Are you afraid of me?"

Kadabra's normal eye twitches slightly. "I have nothing to fear from you, boy." He says harshly, "But my soldiers beg to differ. They are going as far as to call you the Wonder Boy. While I do not agree with soldiers and their ridiculous gossip, the fact that you, a child who isn't even 10 years old, managed to survive entire massacres and have learned how to shoot a plasma rifle with enough skill to gun down my fighters, can't be overlooked. Then there is your ability to conjure entire infernos in the blink of an eye, yet not make even the smallest ripple in the Force. I would be lying if I said you weren't a subject of great curiosity for me. That is why I will have you dissected so my Empire can learn your secrets and develop a weapon that will end your insignificant Republic."

Sander's smirk vanishes and is replaced with an angry look. "It doesn't matter. You've lost."

"Oh? Have I, now? You really think you made it this far without my knowledge or consent?" Kadabra asks, his eye gleaming dangerously.

Leia remains silent, a thoughtful expression on her face. Then she lifts her head, her eyes wide with horror. "There is no meeting of the Imperial Senate, is there? You faked it all, knowing that we would come to assassinate you."

Kadabra stares at her for a long moment before chuckling. "I see that the war hasn't affected your intellect. But what makes this plan truly magnificent is that I knew that your precious Republic would only send their greatest heroes to make sure my Empire dies with me today. You are in the heart of my empire, thousands of light-years from a Republic-friendly system. You have no chance of escaping."

Leia and Sander look at each other, shocked and afraid of the fact that they were played this well. "What about Karel?" Sander asks, his voice shaking slightly. "Is he still loyal to you?"

Kadabra's smile widens slightly. "I have no doubt that his betrayal was genuine. But that doesn't matter. For through his betrayal, he leaked the location of Gaia and gave you the false hope of ending me. That is why I will award the name of Agent Pennsylvania a Golden Eagle of Honor, for the agent behind the name is responsible for leading the Republic to their deaths."

Sander looks at Kadabra, and his face morphs to one of determination. "You know? That sounds like a bright idea." He then concentrates deeply and he starts glowing slightly.

"Aw, fuck." Kadabra says, then lifts up a Force barrier as a massive pillar of crimson fire erupts from Sander and impacts the shield. The Emperor is required to put more effort into not being roasted alive, dropping the Force hold he has on the two Jedi. Sander uses all of his concentration to stop the fire and holds out his hand. His lightsaber flies into his hand, and after re-activating it, swings it at the Emperor's head.

Kadabra notices this, and activates his own red lightsaber before swinging it upward. The two blades slash with each other and they maintain the stand-off until Leia jumps in, slashing her own lightsaber at the Sith Emperor. He breaks the temporary stand-off to slash at Leia, but she ducks under the slash and slashes upward. As she's doing so, Kadabra thrusts out his Demon's Hand and uses the Dark Side to send a spike of dark energy at Sander. He jumps into the air and spins to avoid the attack. Having enough, Kadabra holds out his Demon's Hand and concentrates with all his might. The Force wave that results shatters every glass pane overlooking the city and nearly sending the Jedi over the ledge. Sander just barely manages to hang on by stabbing his lightsaber and using it as an anchor. Leia, however, falls away and out the window, but she grabs the edge of the window and pulls herself to her feet.

"You know, for a little-known Jedi Knight and an unusually young padawan, you certainly fight better than most of the Jedi I have killed in my life. You should have seen how pitifully Jedi Master Gallia died."

"You certainly have learned how to talk a lot." Leia comments, standing up. Before they can continue fighting any further, they feel a tremor in the Force and they look to the night sky. While they couldn't see the ships, they knew what had happened. "Besides, we were just stalling you. Our invasion fleet has arrived, and with it, we will stomp out your Empire at its roots and free the planet of your oppression."

Kadabra stares up at the sky, a lazy smile on his face. He then barks out an insane laugh that sends chills down the Jedi's backs. "You really think that it will be this easy? In fact, the real battle should start, right about… now."

Leia and Sander stare up at the sky, feeling a different tremor in the Force. To their horror, they witness bright dots of white light flashing across the sky and the sense of death radiated from the sky. Then, on Kadabra's left brace, a portable comms link starts beeping. Smirking, Kadabra pushes the red button and a holographic projection of a tall, stern-looking woman with black hair, cold blue eyes, and wearing a black Imperial admiral suit. "Admiral Phasma. Your timing is as impressive as ever."

"Yes, my Emperor. You were right as usual on the imminent invasion, and I will put the inbred scum down. Unfortunately, we ran into… complications."

Kadabra frowns. "What kind of complications?"

"The Separatists. They have launched a massive fleet and are currently attacking Dantooine. They will be dealt with once the Republic is decimated."

"Good. Over and out." The transmission is cut and he glares at them. "Well, looks like it will be an even closer match than I thought."

The Jedi turn around, anger on their faces. "You're going to die." Sander growls before holding his lightsaber up. Kadabra smirks, lifting up his own blade, and charging forward. But before they could meet, the air between them erupts into flames.

Kadabra looks at the flames, a look of abject fury on his face once he senses the man standing in front of him. "Dumbledore." He growls out, glowering at the old man with Fawkes the phoenix sitting on his shoulder. "We meet again at last."

Dumbledore looks at the two Jedi, who look absolutely shocked at seeing them, then turns his attention to the Emperor. "Hello, Harry. It's been a long time."

The Emperor remains angry but doesn't make a move. "The pathetic child that you knew as Harry Potter is forever dead. And when the day is done, you will join him."

Dumbledore lets out a sigh and his face seems to age another hundred years. "Then I will have to end you." Kadabra stares at the aging former Headmaster warily.

The two Jedi stare at the spectacle, waiting for who makes the next move. The stand-off lasts for several long moments before Kadabra loses his patience and slashes at Dumbledore. In an instant, Dumbledore reaches into his robes and pulls out the long, ruby-studded Sword of Gryffindor. He barely manages to stop the blade in time. "I'm sorry, Harry. But this is how it must end." Fawkes then lets out a shrill screech and perches on Dumbledore's head. They erupt into flames and the Jedi shield their eyes from the bright light. When they lower their hands so they can see again, they instantly wobble from dizziness. They look around and see a field littered with plasma marks, filled with Imperial troops running around and fighting soldiers of various local rebel cells, the Jedi warriors, and Order of the Phoenix members off in the distance. Lying on the ground are dozens of corpses of soldiers on both sides, including a corpse in aqua-colored so burnt up, no one could have recognized who it would have been. Illinois is off in the distance, dueling with the moss-green armored Agent New York. Kadabra looks around, wobbling slightly then notices the Jedi Church, the light side flowing from the fortress inside Stonehenge.

"So this is the presence I felt." He says in rage, glowering at the Church in hate. While both armies continue fighting, the Order members, Jedi, and Mavens stop fighting and look at Emperor Kadabra, some of them even dropping their weapons in shock. The Emperor then turns to Dumbledore. "Why did you bring me here, old man?"

"I brought you here so that you would be separated from the power that has drained you of your humanity. It's time for the Greater Good to be achieved." Dumbledore says, looking exhausted. Sander sneaks around the field, hoping to attack Kadabra from behind while he is distracted.

Kadabra stares at him for a long moment before growling in anger. "You and your Greater Good. It has cost more lives than you can possibly imagine, lives that didn't need to be spent. But I'm all ears. What is your Greater Good?"

Dumbledore briefly notices Sander sneaking towards the corpse of an Imperial Army soldier and a plasma rifle. He then focuses back on the Emperor who is standing in front of him. "I wish to see a world where all sides recognize that they are not so different from each other, and that they are all equally capable of hatred, which in turn leads to violence and oppression. For too long, I have lived in a world where people are so obsessed with exerting their power over others that they lay the ground-works of resentment. Voldemort and his Death Eaters, Hermione Granger and the Life Bringers, even Hannibal and his followers, are all examples. All I want is for people to set aside their prejudice, end the relentless attack-and-retaliation we have forced ourselves into, and work towards making a better world."

Kadabra stares at Dumbledore, stunned by the ancient headmaster's words. "But in order for your dream to be attained, you need a martyr. So tell me, who is the unfortunate victim of your schemes?"

Dumbledore expression ages a century further. "…Myself. I have lived for over a hundred years. I have spent half of it trying to make my dream a reality when I should have realized that the future of our world falls into the hands of the younger generation. It's time for my journey to come to a close." Dumbledore then casts a wandless spell on himself, boosting his reflexes and he charges forward at a speed even the Jedi could barely notice and holds the Sword of Gryffindor out.

The Emperor's eye widens in shock and he moves his head to the right. Dumbledore's stabbing motion mostly misses, but the edge of the silver blade manages to cut into Kadabra's metal plate of an eye, leaving a deep gash, cut several small strands of his black hair, and drawing blood from the head behind the plate. The Sith's shock turns to rage and he grabs Dumbledore by the neck. "You're so right." He then activates his red lightsaber, with the tip emerging from out of the old man's back. Dumbledore's expression changes to a deeply saddened expression and he falls backwards before collapsing backward.

Sander grabs the plasma rifle and fires two shots at the Emperor. The first one grazes his right shoulder but Kadabra holds out his hand and makes the plasma shot fly at Leia. She is forced to roll to the side to avoid the shot while the Emperor charges forward, the Demon's Hand out-stretched. The boy has no time to avoid the attack, which leaves a deep set of five slash marks along his chest. "Ah!" He shouts, stumbling back before holding the wound and looking up. "I'll get…" He holds his hand out, prepared to send another uncontrolled wave of fire at the Emperor but then the embers in his hand die out and he collapses.

Kadabra smirks slightly. "What you are witnessing is another benefit of my Demon's Hand. It has a stronger connection to the Dark Side than most Sith artifacts, so I can do much more with it. Including creating any poison I want; the batch that is circulating in your body causes extreme pain and paralysis before your heart stops. A truly slow and painful death. I don't need you alive when Director Drakon tears into your body to find out what you really are." Sander looks up, pure horror on his face as he rolls on the ground, his deep wounds starting to change from normal red blood to a deep black. The Emperor deeply winces from the pain of using his power then looks at Leia who is watching with wide eyes. "As for you. The Clone Wars have made you strong; show me how far you've come. Herpo!" The elderly man with long robes jumps from the battlefield and lands next to the Emperor. "Keep her busy while I deal with the rebel scum and the rest of the Order. Leia, you want to save your padawan as well as your Republic? Then come find me and defeat me; if you survive."

With a final laugh, he uses the Force to leap into the air, ready to join the main battle. Herpo then holds his staff in a battle stance and he charges toward Leia and the two start dueling with a fury neither have ever done before, surrounded by the corpses of soldiers, Albus Dumbledore, and Sander who is rolling on the ground while moaning in agony.

* * *

 _AN:_ Yup, the final battle has begun with a fury. I am sorry that this was such a short chapter. Additionally, I can safely conclude that next chapter (which could be the longest in this whole story) is going to be the last chapter before the epilogue. The end is nigh.

Now, onto the re-born Q&A (please note that I only acknowledge comments for the last chapter I posted):

Kwetwz: Thank you very much.

Emperor Vanquest: I will not spoil anything, but I can promise that a certain weapon with brutal weaponry will make an appearance to compensate. If the Star Forge appears next time, then it will be more of a cameo than anything. But trust me, you will get to see a lot more of it in the not-too-distant future.

MOR the Divine Being: No, you will not. The Death Star is Palpatine's Empire's original weapon, and I intend to keep it that way. Again, I will not spoil anything (and honestly, I haven't outlined the exact details on how it will work yet), but I can assure you that the Star Forge will make an appearance and it will be Kadabra's Empire's version of the Death Star.

Well, I hope I have answered your questions adequately.

I am truly appreciative for all of the support you have given me, and I look forward to closing out this story in style.

See you all next time!

PS: I don't care it's late, I'll say it anyway… Happy New Year's!


	31. Chapter 31: The Battle of Gaia - Part 2

**November 21** **st**

 **2000**

 **5:55 pm Gaia Time (Eastern Time Zone)**

 **Galactic Republic Acclamator-class warship 'Retribution'**

 **Orbiting Gaia**

 **Helios System**

* * *

 **3** **rd** **Person POV:**

* * *

"Status report!" Admiral Tarkin shouts, barely managing to stay on his feet as the Republic Invasion Fleet continues getting hammered by the Imperial ambush.

"Our deflector shields are down 40%. All of our forward cannons are firing upon the Imperial Fleet, but at the rate we're burning fuel, our deflector shields won't last long." The clone officer replies, looking at the Admiral.

Tarkin looks out the window and watches as a Republic Venator decides to perform a suicide tactic, ramming into the side of an Imperial Trireme, destroying the Imperial ship and causing them both to explode in a ball of fire. Once again, the bridge rocks back and forth and nearly sending the crew sprawling. "We will make them pay." Tarkin mutters, his fists clenched.

"Admiral, we're receiving reports of multiple conflicts across the surface of Gaia. They are sending fighters down to the surface now." Another deck officer shouts up. Tarkin then looks to the left of the bridge, noticing the vast planet known to the Imperials as Gaia and the massive swarm of fighters heading planet-side. A smirk forms on his face as a battle plan that would make General Skywalker proud forms in his mind.

"Commander, relay this order across the fleet. Have the entire fleet fire all batteries at maximum power. Distract them long enough to send out our own fighters. Our Y-wings, in Delta formation, will make bombing runs on the Triremes and thin their numbers. Make sure half of our other fighters remain up here to provide covering fire for the bombers; the other half will cover for the gunships. They will be going planet-side and forming a beachhead to secure various land-masses. If we can take the planet, then we should be able to cut reinforcements off. Like it or not, we need to buy the Jedi enough time to kill the Emperor."

"Sir, yes, sir!" The clones aboard the bridge shout simultaneously, saluting the Admiral, and immediately get to work relaying the orders. All the while, the thin blue lasers of the Republic warships, made up of Acclamators and Venators, and the thick blue plasma shots of the Imperial warships, made up of Triremes, Drakkars, and Galleons, continue flying towards each other and often colliding with each side, severely draining their deflector shields.

Two Acclamators then turn on their sides, the bottom of the cruisers taking the brunt of the plasma fire as the docking bays open, and all at once, the Republic fighters swarm out. Unfortunately, due to the amount of plasma that impacts the two Acclamators, they start glowing brightly before their deflector shields completely give way and they completely break in half, spilling their contents and any clones left on-board the ships into the cold vacuum of space. Tarkin can only watch with grim determination as the Republic fighters engage the enemy fighters as the Y-wings begin their attack runs on the enemy warships.

* * *

 **5:46 pm Gaia Time (Eastern Time Zone)**

 **Galactic Republic Gunship**

 **Approaching Gaia's Surface**

 **Gaia**

* * *

"All right, boys! Look alive; we're about to finally get payback on these bastards!" Clone Commander 3636, better known as Wolffe, shouts as he loads a clip of ammo into his blaster rifle.

He, along with the rest of his Wolfpack, let out simultaneous howls as they finish gathering their supplies, completely smothered by the glowing red lights. "Brace yourselves. We're about to experience some serious turbulence." The pilot shouts as he drives the gunship towards the planet's surface. Suddenly, the gunship explodes as an Imperial Assassin fighter comes flying towards them. Luckily, the pilot is able to lift up enough in time to avoid the gunship from getting cooked too much from the heat and the approaching fighter. "I don't know how we're going to survive this fight." He then makes a decision and shouts to his comrades in the back, "Man all gunner stations! We need to keep those fighters off of us."

"On it!" Wolffe shouts as he runs to the gunner's seat on the right side of the gunship and gets himself seated. "Here they come!" He shouts before spinning the turret around in all directions, firing the thin green laser at any Imperial Assassins that try to come their way. The gunship continues to fly towards the planet, and another Assassin fighter starts flying towards them. Wolffe lets out a battle cry as he fires the green lasers directly at the enemy ship's cockpit. The deflector shields around the fighter is crushed after a long moment of constant laser fire and explodes in a ball of fire.

"Got one!" Wolffe shouts, allowing his troops to let out howls of triumph. The commander then continues to spin the turret around in all directions while continuously firing the laser. While he barely misses another Republic transport, Wolffe does manage to destroy three more Assassins and one Z-wing bomber. However, before Wolffe could finish off the second Z-wing that is several klicks away from the gunship, the ship suddenly swerves to the left. When Wolffe gets another clear view of Gaia, he can only watch as the Z-wing fires two torpedoes at a gunship that is entering the planet's atmosphere, making it blow up.

"Die!" Wolffe shouts in rage as he fires another wave of lasers at the bomber, successfully making the Imperial ship explode.

"Nice shooting, Commander! Now get out of there; we are entering the planet's atmosphere." The pilot shouts.

"Already done." Wolffe replies, getting out of the turret and crawling back into the main body of the ship. Sure enough, the blast shields start warming up as the gunship enters the atmosphere, rocking back and forth slightly.

Several long moments of silence pass as the clones hang on tightly to the rails, their field of vision drenched in the deep red light. Eventually, the gunship starts cooling down and they can feel the ground underneath them levelling out. "Welcome to hell, boys." The pilot says, then switches the lights from red to green. This lasts for a few seconds before the lights go out completely and the blast shields slide open, allowing the squad of eight clones to look out at the city below. Their eyes narrow slightly in shock as they see the vast city, with narrow streets packed with abandoned cars and concrete, simple houses stretching out over the plains and hills as far as they can see. To top the image off, there are skyscrapers that reach dozens of stories into the sky and giant billboards on the main highway, advertising what looks like a red bottle in a language none of the clones could make heads or tails of. Next to the Wolfpack's gunship are another four gunships, all of which have both blast shields open and the troopers standing by.

But before the troops could drop down to the ground below, a rocket collides with the nearest gunship and makes it explode in a ball of fire, and crashes on the streets below. The other gunships swerve in opposite directions to avoid another rocket. Wolffe then walks to the edge of the ship and looks at the buildings. He then looks through the scope of his blaster rifle and spots an Imperial soldier holding a rocket launcher in his hands, hiding on the roof of a parking garage. "Down there! Fire two rockets and take out that trooper!" Wolffe shouts.

"Yes, sir!" The pilot replies, then pushes several buttons on his console. Suddenly, two rockets fly out of the gunship and impact with the roof of the parking garage. The entire upper floor erupts in a pillar of fire so bright the clones shield their eyes from the blast. When they can see again, they can only watch as the whole parking garage collapses in on itself, pouring a cloud of smoke into the sky. "Whoa. Hold on!" The pilot adds, swerving to the side to try and avoid more rockets coming their way. Sadly, it is too late for the gunship and the rockets collide with the ship's left wing. "Brace yourselves, helljumpers. This is gonna be real rough!" The pilot steers the ship to the best of his ability. The gunship turns violently to the right, the imbalance in weight making it nearly impossible to stay up straight. The gunship starts falling steadily to the ground, towards the barren streets below. Wolffe hangs onto the ship with everything he has, watching as the ground quickly approaches.

Before he can even register it, the gunship crashes into the ground and bucks to the side, crashing completely. Wolffe lands on the ground and rolls on the ground, with the main ship continuing down the street and smashing cars aside.

Within moments, Wollfe looks to the sky and sees his brothers-in-arms engaging Imperial fighters, explosions dotting the sky above. Within moments, the clone commander shakily pulls himself to his feet. He shakily walks over to the gunship which is lying on its side several dozen yards away from him, and he only feels burning rage when he sees three Imperial Army troopers walking towards the gunship. Wolffe charges forward, firing his blaster rifle at them.

One of the troopers gets hit by three blaster bolts in the chest, melting through the armor and killing the female trooper. The other two troopers raise their plasma rifles and are about to fire upon Wolffe, but then they are pulled into the gunship. After a brief skirmish, the members of Wolf Squad simultaneously jump out. "Wolfpack, good to see you alive."

"Thank you, sir." One of the clones, known as Boost, replies crisply.

"Where's our pilot?" Wolffe demands, already guessing the answer.

"Sir, he never had a chance to survive the crash." Another clone, Comet, answers.

"More death. This invasion had better be worth it." Wolffe mutters. He then looks at the trio, the last of the proud Wolfpack, and is about to give them their orders when they hear rubble crashing against the ground.

On the spot, the clones turn in that direction and point their blasters there, ready for a fight. What they weren't expecting was to come face-to-face with three older men wearing extremely worn brown leather jackets with two straps of plasma clips over their chests forming an X-shape over their chests, khaki military-grade boots, long brown pants, straw sombreros, and a red bandana wrapped around the middle of their right biceps. In their hands are long wooden rifles that look beyond primitive to the soldiers of the Wolfpack, except for Wolffe; he suspects that there is more to the antique-looking rifles than it seems.

The man standing in front of them, who has a black jacket and pants instead of his companions, with battle-hardened face and cold brown eyes and sporting a thick moustache that is greying slightly, drops his rifle to his side and raises his left hand in a closed fist. The men behind him lower their weapons instantly. "I'm sorry about that, señors. We didn't realize who you were at first." He says, with a surprisingly kind voice heavily laced with an accent that is foreign to the clones' ears. The man walks forward, shifts his rifle to the opposite hand and holds out his open right hand. "My name is Juan Rodriguez, and I am the founder of the Guardia Rural. At your service."

"Commander Wolffe, Commander of the Wolfpack, 212th Attack Battalion. It is a pleasure to meet those who are willing to fight against the Empire." Wolffe replies, holding out his own hand and shaking the leader's hand.

"Indeed, señor. You would find that many people hate the hombre known as Kadabra here on this planet as much as those in your Republic do. I want you to give you a warm welcome to our home of Mexico City, but…" He then shields his face as a Republic fighter crashes into the ground a few feet away, sending dust and debris into the air for a moment before settling, "it wouldn't be a warm welcome. I have heard of your exploits against the hijo de putas known as the Imperials, and when we're done, we can trade stories around the campfire. But now, we need to get to work."

"What can we do to help, sir?" Wolffe asks, standing at attention.

"Mi amigo, there is much we need to do in order to free our people. Unfortunately, my people are spread too thin to help the other rebels across the globe. So, thanks to our new allies, we now know of a nearby fortress of vital importance to them."

The clones look at each other with curiosity. "Who exactly are these allies?" Boost asks suspiciously.

Suddenly, four Imperial Army soldiers run down the narrow streets and take notice of the others. "Inbreds! Kill them and the traitors!" The leader of the troops shouts and lifts up his rifle to fire, along with his troops. But before they can fire any shots, two new people drop down from one of the buildings and land on the cars. Before the soldiers even have a chance to respond, one of the new arrivals performs a roundhouse kick that knocks one of the soldiers into the other two, knocking them to the ground. The leader tries to fire at the assailant but the other arrival activates curved yellow blades, two on each wrist, and slices the head off the commander.

"How fast was I?" One of the soldiers, a female who is wearing tan-colored armor that is thickest on the arms and legs with a tan mesh that covers her whole body, with a thick chestplate and white shoulder pads. Her helmet is shaped like a giant bulb and a thick blood red visor where her face would be* shines brightly against the fires that are consuming the buildings.

Her companion is wearing the exact same armor style, except that is exceptionally thicker. "Oh, you know. Deplorably."

"Yeah? Well, define deplorably." The woman shoots back, making the rebels and clones at the duo with dumb-founded expressions.

"Well, you were .02 milliseconds slower than your standard record." The male shoots back with a humorous expression.

The woman scoffs. "Whatever." She then turns to the groups who are just staring back at them. "Hey, Dad." She states, waving at the leader of the Guardia Rural.

"…This can't be happening." Comet says.

"But it is true, hermanos. May I introduce my children, Jorge and Antonia." Juan says, smiling slightly and Wolffe could have sworn he say tears forming in the leader's eyes.

"We don't have much time." Jorge says, de-activating his wristblades. "We need to capture the Academy."

"Yes, yes." Juan says, then shouts to his men something in a language the clones still don't understand. They immediately turn around and start running towards away from the clones. Not wanting to be left behind and risk getting blown up by the numerous rockets that are flying around in all directions, the Wolfpack follows close behind.

After a few minutes, the group arrive at an alleyway sandwiched between two skyscrapers. Parked in the middle of that alleyway are two pick-up trucks which are a faded blue color. What really stands out to the clones are the massive rusty but sharp-looking spikes that look like they could punch through clone armor like no body's business, massive steel spikes fused with all four wheels of the vehicle, and every window-slot is lined with at least a dozen vertical rows of jagged barbed wire. With the exception of the windshield, which is composed of bullet-proof glass, the windows were completely removed. The guardsmen of the Guardia Rural get into the truck in the back, with the two ex-Mavens jumping into the back of the truck. When Juan gets into the driver's seat of the lead truck, the clones jump into the back of this truck.

What they see spread out across the back of the truck surprises the clones deeply. "Well, looks like these guys are stranger than we expected, commander." Boost comments, pointing towards a large crate loaded to the brim with something block-shaped and grey like clay.

"Careful with that, amigos!" Juan shouts from the driver's seat as he starts the engines of the truck back up. "You don't want to mess with C-5; a powerful explosive created by the Imperial Science Department. Those hijo de putas are about to see how their own weapons work." He then pulls out of the alleyway and swerves down the damaged highways, swerving in different directions to avoid debris and smash toppled cars littering the road aside while the battle continues all around them.

"I wonder if General Kenobi's having a better time than we are." Wolffe mutters as the trucks make their way through Mexico City.

* * *

 **5:30 pm Gaia Time (Eastern Time Zone)**

 **Empire State Building**

 **Manhattan Island**

 **New York, United States of America**

 **Gaia**

* * *

Obi-Wan Kenobi grunted in slight pain as Darth Kione punched him in the face, breaking his nose slightly. "You like that? Siren taught me some moves." She said mockingly as she then holds out a hand. A pillar of ice shot out of her hand, making Kenobi roll to the side to avoid it.

Kione looked up to see Anakin lunging downward, lightsaber in hand. Kione dodged to the side and swung her own black lightsaber at the Jedi, only for Anakin to lift up his own lightsaber to block. Then, for a period of nine seconds, the duo jumped into the air, slashing and parrying each other.

But when the Empress landed on the ground, Kenobi got an idea and smirked slightly. He then charged forward and slashed to the right. Kione noticed the strike and blocked it. Anakin immediately understood what Kenobi had in mind and also charged forward. Once Kione blocked Kenobi's strike, she noticed Anakin fast approaching. She then tried to block the strike as well, but Anakin slashed downward farther to the right than she had anticipated.

In the process, Anakin Skywalker cut her lightsaber in half. Kione recoiled from the loss of her weapon and flies into the far wall after Kenobi sent a Force Push her way. "It's over, Empress. You've lost." He said, walking to Anakin's side and both of them holding out their lightsabers.

To their surprise, Kione laughed slightly. "Lost? Nothing is over until the last one is standing!" She shouted, then concentrated on the Dark Side. The very air around them turned frigid and a thin layer of ice formed on every surface. The two Jedi leap into the air, barely avoiding being frozen alive. Anakin then took the chance to throw his lightsaber at the Empress, who was still held against the wall. The Empress started gasping in pain, and looking down to see the glowing blue blade sticking out of her chest. "My name is Daphne Peverell. I may die today… but I will die, knowing… my children and husband live on. That's… what… matters." She then started coughing up an alarming amount of blood before her head slumped forward. The Dark Side of the Force exploded around the Jedi in pain, screeching in pain at the death of Darth Kione, causing Kenobi to let go of Kione's corpse. Suddenly, the ice that was thickening across the room started sliding back towards the Sith's body. Anakin pulled his lightsaber out of her body seconds before the ice enveloped her body, freezing it completely and the human-shaped ice sculpture shatters into millions of little pieces.

"Well, that wasn't too bad." Anakin said, de-activating his lightsaber and clipping it to his belt as the ice that is now spread out on the ground started to melt. Just then, the entire building rumbled, and the active lights overhead start violently flickering before going out. The sounds of crashing can be heard from high above. "What have you done now?" Kenobi half-joked, worried about what could have caused such a huge reaction. The air around them starts heating up violently and the duo realize what is wrong rather quickly. "Get to the outside. Now!" With that, the duo starts to run towards the glass walls. They just barely manage to run out of the window and balance themselves on the rather narrow metal platform that separates bullet-proof window panes. The cool glass that is touching their backs starts heating up as roaring flames make their way into the apartment level.

"We can't stay here! If we do, we'll die in more ways than I would like to think about." Anakin shouts over the roaring flames, looking down slightly at the ground below. "Now I have some understanding of why Sander hates heights." He adds with some anxiety in his voice.

"Let's get to the top of this tower. We can get contact the Admiral and get evac. Come on!" Kenobi shouts, then turns around and uses the Force to leap into the air, grabbing onto the narrow ledge above. Anakin also jumps into the air, grabbing onto the ledge. The duo continues to climb higher and higher up the Empire State Building, until they reach the top level. Anakin and Obi-Wan then stare out at the city from this level, realizing that it is a peaceful view. If the city wasn't in the middle of an enemy occupation, they have to admit that the city is quite a sight.

Their thoughts are interrupted by a swarm of Republic fighters and gunships soaring down from the cloud-free skies, raining blaster shots at the Imperial defenses below. Several of them get blown away, caught off-guard by the surprise attack, before they try fighting back.

"About time." Anakin says, then gets onto the comm lines. Within seconds, Captain Rex appears on the Jedi's personal comm link.

"General. I'm glad you're alive, sir." Rex says, sounding genuinely relieved.

"We're on the top floor of the tallest building." Anakin replies quickly.

"Yes, sir. On our way." Rex replies then the comms line cuts off. The gunships and fighters continue to fly over the city, with a single gunship flying up towards the top level of the Empire State Building. The blast doors slide open to reveal three clone troopers standing there with blaster rifles, Captain Rex among them. "I hope we didn't arrive too late, Generals."

"On the contrary. You got here just in time." Kenobi says humorously as he jumps onto the gunship, with Anakin following close behind.

"Do I want to ask about your… disguises?" Rex asks, getting his first good look at the strange outfits the Jedi are wearing.

"Not really." Anakin replies. "So, are we invading the capitol of the planet?"

"Is that so?" Rex asks, looking down at the city with great interest. "In that case, yes. The space battle is merciless, but we were able to land a dozen AT-TEs on the ground. We will need to be on the ground to make sure nothing happens to the walkers."

The Jedi nod, pulling out their lightsabers and activate them before rappelling to the ground below, joining the brewing battle between clones and Imperials.

* * *

 **6:10 pm Gaia Time (Eastern Time Zone)**

 **Guardia Rural Escort Battalion**

 **Approaching Tulum Academy**

 **Gaia**

* * *

The two armored trucks drive at the fastest speeds they can possibly go, through the thick jungles and dusty roads. While the clones are uncertain about what types of defenses this Sith Academy has in store from them, they have faith that the locals have enough knowledge of the area for the clones to formulate a plan.

Suddenly, they reach a rather run-down town that looks abandoned with a 10-feet concrete wall separating the town from whatever lay on the other side. But as the trucks pull out of the clearing, numerous plasma shots go flying at the trucks. "Get out!" Juan shouts, pulling out a thin rod of metal with a red button on top.

While the clones see the object in his hand and recognize what it is immediately, Wolffe barks, "You heard him!" Reluctantly, they jump out and start making their way to the buildings for cover. Unfortunately, the snipers hiding on top of the concrete wall manage to land a lucky shot and hits Comet in the leg. The clone falls to the ground as his leg explodes in a small cloud of blood, screaming as he falls to the ground and cradles the bloody stump. As Boost is about to run out and assist the fallen clone, another shot goes off and impacts head. An even-larger explosion results, with much of it splattering on the buildings.

The Wolfpack watches as one of their own gets mutilated, but focus back on the battle when they hear an enormous explosion. They peer back from behind the corner to see Juan running towards them, rifle in his hand, as the truck he was driving is in the middle of the explosion and part of the wall collapses in on itself. The soldiers on the wall stop firing, trying to not get caught in the collapse.

"That felt good." Juan says as he reaches the building where the clones are hiding. "So, mis amigos. Are you ready for some payback?"

"And avenge our fallen brothers?" Wolffe asks, lifting up his blaster rifle and feeling more determined than ever before. "Count me in."

Juan smiles slightly and lifts up his right hand. On his fore-arm is a personal comm device, similar in design to a clone trooper's. He then pushes the button that would normally activate the communications device. But instead of the glowing-blue holographic projection the Republic troops are used to seeing, a loud pinging sound rings out.

Several long seconds pass of silence, Imperial and clone alike waiting to see what exactly is going on. The clones, in particular, are interested in the fact that the other truck is parked in the middle of the clearing, engines on and ready to charge in at a moment's notice. Suddenly, from out of every building in the war-torn village, dozens of members of the Guardia Rural, both male and female but wearing the same style of clothing, come charging out and letting out battle cries. The truck picks back up and starts driving towards the damaged section of the wall. The clones, emboldened by the help, charge out and start firing upon the Imperial Army soldiers lining the wall.

They are forced to use their green energy shields to block the blaster shots, allowing the armored truck to smash through the last smoking pieces of debris and start driving directly into the complex. "Come on! Let's show them what we're made of!" Wolffe shouts, letting out a wolf howl along with his few surviving troops. There were many more members when the Wolfpack served under Plo Koon, but then the Empire arrived, whittled the Wolfpack's numbers down, and eventually the whole Wolfpack was re-assigned to Kenobi's legion after his legion started dramatically losing numbers.

The rebel forces, led by the clones, charge through the smashed wall and reach the other side. In the middle of the clearing, there are dozens of buildings that seem to be built on the foundation of already-existing buildings. Standing over the buildings and overlooking the beach is a massive stone temple, re-furnished so it looks fresh. Wolffe notices how both Imperial Army and Navy troopers are gathered around the stone temple, it must be important to the Sith Order.

The truck is in the middle of the small, modern-looking village and completely ablaze, setting fire to the small building that resembles a dormitory. The two men who were driving the improvised assault vehicle are dead and still in the blazing car while the twin ex-Mavens survived. They are hiding behind the building as the Imperials continue laying down suppressive fire.

But when they notice the approaching rebels, one of them shouts, "Fuck that shit. Focus all fire on the rebels; I want those traitors dead." The Commander, a Maven wearing rust-colored armor that is designed like Japanese battle armor but the helmet stylized like an English knight, shouts. The troops follow his command, focusing their fire on the rebels while half of them have their energy shields activated.

Over a dozen rebels die in the first minute of the sudden battle, most of which are the result of gaping holes in their chests. Luckily, they manage to find shelter via thick tree roots sticking out of the ground or the new buildings. "Boost, thermal." Wolffe shouts.

Boost nods, pulling out a thermal detonator he had on him before tossing it to his commander. Upon receiving the detonator, Wolffe activates it and throws it with all his might. The aim is true, and while no Imperials die in the explosion, the six who were closest to the explosion were thrown off their feet. The soldiers of the Guardia Rural take advantage of the chaos and fire their rifles upon the distracted troops.

The brutal shots from the old-looking rifles punch through the higher-quality Imperial armor and kill the troops instantly. "Keep it up. We can win this!" Wolffe shouts as he lays down his own suppressive fire upon the troops who are re-grouping.

* * *

 **11:15 pm Gaia Time (Greenwich Mean Time Zone)**

 **Jedi Church, Stonehenge**

 **Wiltshire, England, Europe**

 **Gaia**

* * *

Once again, Leia Haggar barely manages to block a slash from the angry old man known only as Herpo the Foul. "Come now. Is this the best you can give me?" Herpo asks mockingly after deflecting another slash by Leia.

The female Jedi Knight grits her teeth slightly, trying to keep her frustration in check. Her mind then drifts back to her training sessions with her padawan and sinks into the Force. As Herpo swings his staff to attack, occasionally sending a green beam of energy her way to do Force-knows-what, Leia dodges each of them while occasionally slashing at his legs this time. Unfortunately, she ducks too low to sweep at her opponent's legs. The old man manages to jump over the slash and sends a white beam of light at the Jedi. Her entire body seizes up and she falls backwards. Herpo lifts up his staff, glaring at her with a maniacal gleam in his eyes.

As he is about to stab the razor-sharp tip of his green staff into her chest, Leia lets out a massive surge of the Force, which breaks the binding placed on her. She rolls out of the way and makes a sweeping motion with her feet. The old man fails to react in time, and gets swept off his feet before landing on his back. While he works to pull himself back to his feet, Leia holds out her hand and uses the Force to pull the staff into her hands.

But the ancient man notices what is going on, and hold out his own hand to pull the staff back into his own hand. The staff just hangs suspended in the air, torn between the two Force-users. The struggle lasts for a good 15 seconds before cracks start forming in the staff and eventually splits in half. A massive wave of black energy flies out, almost sounding like it's screaming as it does so. When Leia lowers her hands, she finds both shards lying on the ground and starting to rust at an abnormal rate. She then looks up to see Herpo standing there, shaking with more uncontrolled rage than Leia had seen from any Separatist commander after their plans went belly-up.

"How dare you, stupid woman**! I will…" Herpo never got to complete his sentence as he was stabbed in the chest by a blue lightsaber. "You think you have won anything… you're won nothing." He then slides forward and falls face-first. Caleb Dume stands there holding his lightsaber out in front of him, staring at the corpse with wide eyes. He then de-activates his lightsaber and runs towards Sander's side.

The younger padawan is still rolling on the ground in pain, but his movements are starting to become slower. His breathing is becoming increasingly labored and the blood vessels on his body are becoming increasingly pronounced and changing to an unhealthy blue color. "Sander! Sander, please wake up!" Caleb shouts before looking up at Leia. "What's happening to him?"

"Emperor Kadabra poisoned him." Leia says, trying to maintain even a sliver of a calm persona in her tone. "I'm hoping that if I can kill him, I might be able to destroy the poison."

Caleb looks like he wants to ask how that works, but holds off on that. "What can I do?"

The female Knight looks around before her gaze settle on the nearby village, a few miles away from the ancient structures they are fighting at. "Get out of the warzone and seek shelter in that village. If possible, find anything to slow down the poison until I do what I must." She then pulls her blue lightsaber back into her hands and activates the blade.

Caleb nods. "Okay. Don't worry Sander. Everything's going to be alright." He says, pulling the younger boy towards safety and through the warzone, past plasma shots flying around in all directions. Past the skirmishes between groups of Imperial troops and even smaller groups of rebels, most of whom are only able to hold their ground because they have a Jedi at their side, but easily the most dramatic and flashy battle being Ronald Weasley and Hailey Potter tag-teaming against the psychotic Agent Illinois. Leia reaches out through the Force and senses the massive presence of dread that she has long associated with her old friend. She then starts running towards the source of the presence, and sure enough, the Emperor is holding his blood-red lightsaber in his hand and cutting Order members down to size like no-one's business.

As the Emperor is about to split a disarmed Cedric Diggory's head in half, Leia runs at top speeds and manages to block the slash with her own blade. Not even taking the time to think, she throws a punch with her only open arm which collides with the side of his face. As he staggers from the shock, Leia then immediately slashes at his chest to try and get a strike. Unfortunately, Kadabra recovers enough to lift up his blade and stop the strike dead in its tracks.

"My, my. I thought Jedi like you fought fairly." He says tauntingly. Neither of them notice Cedric getting up and run away from their battle to help another group of rebels already being aided by Master Windu who are battling a squad of troopers and the new, six-legged Camel tank.

"When one tries to kill their opponents using dirty moves, I tend to put them in their place." Leia answers, the loosens the grip on her blade. Kadabra takes it and pushes with all his might into the attack. The stalemate is broken making Leia take a step back. The Sith Emperor slashes at her lightsaber and sends it flying as far away as possible. He then holds out his Demon's Hand and tries to splash her with another dose of his poison, but Leia catches the poison mid-air and thrusts it back towards him. While the poison does not make contact with his skin, it does start melting away his armor.

"You will die for your insistence!" Kadabra shouts, then uses his Demon's Hand to grip his lightsaber. Two tendrils of black energy circulate around the lightsaber, doubling its reach. Leia then desperately uses the Force to dodge out of the way of the lightsaber's extended reach. She then uses the Force to pull her lightsaber back into her hands. As it reaches her hand and she activates the blade, she lifts it up to defend herself from the oncoming slash. But because Kadabra uses the Dark Side to extend the length of the blade, it slashes down in the middle of her lightsaber.

The blue blade falls to the ground, completely split in half. Leia is in shock of the turn of events, and looks back up to see Kadabra glaring at her, a cynical and crazy look on his face that would have Herpo running for the hills. "You know what? I think I'll even the odds. I will give you a ten-second head's start." His face then contorts into a wide grin. "One."

Not armed with a lightsaber, Leia knows that she needs to escape. She starts running away from the maniacal Emperor, through piles of corpses lying on the ground and towards the Jedi Church. Once she's inside, Leia rips a sconce off the wall, notices an entryway on the far-right side of the room, and starts climbing up the spiral staircase as fast as she can. Once she reaches an attic-like spacing filled with a random assortment of medieval items, ranging from suits of armor to racks of weapons. Suddenly, she hears stomping and feels Kadabra climbing up the staircase. She rests her back against the wall on the right of the opening and waits. The second the Force screams at her, she swings the sconce inward. But the Emperor catches it in his hands, bends it in a U-shape, and charges forward. With incredible speed even she could barely register, he wraps the sconce around her neck and starts pulling.

Leia gags violently, trying to not suffocate. She elbows Kadabra in the side several times and even stomps violently on his knee. The pain annoys the Emperor enough so he pushes her away from him, dropping the sconce to the ground. Before Leia can think about how she can take him down, he charges forward and performs an upper-cut so fast it looks like his fist is aflame***. The fist connects with Leia's chin, and the impact is so devastating it sends her crashing through the ceiling above and lands on her back, staring up at the night sky for several seconds.

The Emperor then jumps through the hole, holding his lightsaber over his head and slashing it downwards. Leia rolls to the side, then notices that despite the fact that this structure is enhanced stone, the Dark Side-enhanced lightsaber slashes through the stone with ease.

For one moment, Leia sets aside her boiling hatred of the Emperor and stares at his lightsaber. She has found the key to killing the Emperor. He then looks at her, smiling still. "I can feel your anger, your desire to kill me. Give in to that anger; show me a real fight."

He then charges forward and is about to slash to the side, but Leia grabs his Demon's Hand with one of her own hands. "I don't need to. You're nothing but a shadow which needs to be brought back into the light."

She then concentrates on the most positive emotions she can conjure up and deepening her connection to the Light Side of the Force. Kadabra's Demon's Hand starts steaming violently and he howls in pain. He stumbles backward, dropping his lightsaber as he holds his Demon's Hand. Suddenly, it starts turning a dull grey before crumpling to the ground, spreading out in a small cloud of dust. "What manner of the Force are you using?" He asks, sounding truly shocked for the first time in her life.

He then looks at her, and lunges toward her and tackles her to the ground. She starts squeezing even harder, and Leia can feel the life draining from her. Shakily, she notices the abandoned lightsaber on the ground and holds out one hand while the other tries to pry the ever-strong grip he has on her.

The lightsaber flies into her hand and she activates the red blade before impaling it into the Emperor's only other hand. He lets out another howl of pain stumbling backward and trying in vain to use the Dark Side to heal the gaping hole in his arm. Leia takes a deep breath, holding her shaking lightsaber hand steady, before stepping forward and stabbing the blade into Kadabra's abdomen.

He looks down at the blade, and summons as much strength as possible to give one last punch to Leia's stomach, knocking both Force-sensitives to their knees. "It's true. You really have learned how to fight." Kadabra says, a hint of surprise in his voice.

While the battle rages around them still, they stare each other down. "Do you regret it?" Leia found herself asking, "Everything you have done?"

The Emperor looks down at the ground, and it seems like a thick cloud has lifted around him, but the darkness in him is still uncomfortably strong. "…No. While you have learned much from the Clone Wars, there is one lesson you have not learned yet. It doesn't matter whether you are a lowly Jedi Knight or a Sith Emperor, we are all the same; we are pawns in a larger game. But what truly separates us is the actions we take in our lives. I was a pawn who tried to make a difference." He then grabs the hilt of his lightsaber and pulls it out of himself, de-activating the blade and letting it fall to the floor as his back falls against the closest turret.

Leia stares at the Emperor, pondering his words to figure out what he meant. He is dying, so if there's any time for even the most cruel Sith Lord to speak the truth, now is the time. Then the answer hits her, and her eyes widen. "You're referring to Sidious, aren't you?"

The Emperor smiles slightly while coughing up some blood. "Yes. But Sidious does not work for me; no, he wants to enslave the galaxy for himself and use your war to weaken it enough so he can take control."

"We will deal with him soon. But it should be easier to find him, now that your Empire has fallen." Leia says, though the second after she says those words, she wonders if they really are true.

Kadabra stares at her for a long moment before laughing slightly, then coughing up more blood than before. "You really think it will be that easy? My body may die today, but I shall live on. My legacy shall live on, and even when my name has long been forgotten, my actions will always have an impact on the galaxy. In the end, your precious Republic is not worth saving. It is full of hypocrite politicians who can turn friends into enemies whenever they see fit. Unlike you, I have always fought for the middle men, given them hope for a better life. That dream will drive them to fight on, years after my death. But it doesn't matter; if you can't learn the true identity of the man who's been hiding under your noses all along, then your Jedi Council and the Republic it stands for shall fall."

Leia just sits there, barely able to comprehend what he just said. Despite wanting to deny it all, she can't help but feel a pang of guilt in her. "Hey. There's one last thing I want to tell you."

"Shoot."

"I wanted you to know that Darth Kadabra has to be the most outrageous Sith name I have ever heard in my entire life." Leia blurts out, not able to hold it in much longer.

A moment of silence passes before the Emperor chuckles slightly. He then leans his head back, and a second later, the Sith Emperor lets out his last breath.

Leia stares at the corpse in front of her, feeling the Sith's death. But for some reason, it feels like this is just the beginning. Only now does she feel the full extent of the injuries she was exposed to, and in a matter of seconds, she succumbs to the pain and darkness takes her sight.

* * *

 _AN:_ Well, this is it.

Aside from wrapping up some minor things in the epilogue, this story is done. I honestly had much fun writing this story and I hope its sequel 'Remnant's Rebels' turns out just as well. And yes, I have been reading your comments and had the last moments added in as a dedication to you all and all the support you have given me.

Now, onto the brief Q&A:

Gracealma: Well, thank you very much. I'm flattered. No sarcasm.

Well, I guess that's all. See ya'll next time for the epilogue of this story.

*For the helmets, imagine the Meta's (a Red vs. Blue villain) helmet with the Prometheus Vision Equipment and is desert-colored.

**Ideology from the Ancient World at work, and nothing else.

***Shoryuken!

PS: There is a moment that is going to happen next chapter that may or may not offend people. I only ask this; please keep in mind that this a Fanfiction not intended to poke my opinions into my work. Before you ask, I assure you; there is NOTHING political that will happen in it. It's just a satire of something I read a few months ago.

PPS: I hear all of you, and you will be answered in the Q&A at the end of the next chapter. While I will not spoil anything I promise you this. I will take the time to make the epilogue one of, if not, the best chapter in the whole story. AND that this chapter's ending is not as it seems.


	32. Chapter 32: Epilogue: Pyrrhic Victory

**November 21** **st**

 **2000**

 **11:25 pm Gaia Time (Greenwich Mean Time Zone)**

 **Jedi Church, Stonehenge**

 **Wiltshire, England, Europe**

 **Gaia**

 **Helios System**

* * *

 **3** **rd** **Person POV:**

* * *

For the first time in his life, Agent Illinois, once known as Daniel Cadmus, is utterly horrified.

He stares up at the giant stone structure that suddenly appeared in Stonehenge with wide eyes as he felt something that he never expected to happen in his lifetime. Emperor Kadabra has become one with the Force. He doesn't even get the chance to truly register this disastrous moment before the Dark Side literally explodes from the Temple. Everyone is blown back from the massive wave of dark energy that is erupting in all directions. The last living members of the Order of the Phoenix are down on their knees out of exhaustion, using Protego spells to shield themselves from the burst of energy.

Illinois doesn't pay attention any of them, not even the unconscious woman who fell off the top of the tower and splatting on the ground. Instead, he stands up to the mass of dark energy circulating around them and lifts up his right arm, flipping the hatch covering his personal comm line open and pushing the black button; a button he was taught never to push unless it was an absolute emergency. Seconds later, the light blue image of Director Drakon appears on the screen. "Director. It's about the Emperor."

"I know." Drakon says coldly; though even through the hologram, he looks oddly calm and collected despite the situation. "That is why Code Black is now in full effect. You know what to do." With that, the transmission cuts out.

"Fall back! Fall back!" Illinois shouts to the remaining dozen Imperial troops as the surge of dark side energy completely dissipates. They look at each other, and are about to follow the orders very reluctantly, until they notice the glass screen, which is on the right side of their personal communicators mounted to their right wrists but can be twisted off and work like portable communicators that were invented later in the war, beeping and glowing black. These screens, even featured in the older communicator models for all branches of the Imperial military, glow different colors when different standard protocols are initiated by the local Imperial commanding officers if they are unable to directly give specific orders, though superior officers issue a few standard protocols if the situation is dire. Code Blue means that the Imperials should hope they learned how to swim, Code Red means kill every non-Imperial soldier and is the standard code given at the start of a battle, Code Green means that victory has been achieved in the battle, Code Yellow means that the pyromaniacs of the Imperial military should be consulted for population control reasons; fortunately, only two times in the Imperial military's history has the protocol that was taught in basic training like all other protocols been used. Finally, there's Code Black, the ultimate contingency protocol in case the unthinkable has happened and the Emperor was killed; essentially, the Empress or another high-ranking Imperial official will take the reins, and the Director of the notorious Imperial Science Department will provide coordinates to a secret location where all Imperial personnel and civilians will remain until further notice.

"Shit, shit, shit, shit." One of the Imperials says as he continues to run as fast as his legs can possibly can but stumbles and starts falling face-first to the ground.

"Come on, Dustin! Don't stop." Another one of the soldiers shouts, preventing his best friend from falling to the ground as they continue to run.

Illinois leads the group of Imperials through the grassy plains and away from the embarrassing defeat, but then feels a disturbance in the Dark Side. He activates one of his Light Disks and raises the left one over his head, effectively blocking the silver broadsword of Severus Snape who had apparated nearly on top of him. "Where do you think you're going?" Snape asks coldly.

"Away from you, scum." Illinois answers then activates his other Light Disk and slashes it at Snape's stomach. The wizard steps back, barely avoiding the slash, but Daniel leaps over him. Snape slashes around, grazing the Maven's armor. Before Snape or Illinois can make another move, however, one of the Imperial troops fires at Snape's back. He would have been able to dodge the strike if he wasn't so tired from hours of continuous fighting, and he falls to his knees in pain. "You don't you just do us a favor and die, scum?" The agent says coldly before stabbing the blade into Snape's chest.

The older man gasps in pain before Illinois pulls the blade out of him and starts running past him with the rest of the troops falling into formation behind, leaving a dying Snape behind. Illinois gets back onto his special communication line and pushes a sequence of numbers on his communicator before activating it, creating the image of Admiral Moen who is looking extremely disturbed. "Admiral, this is Agent Illinois. I order you to save a transport for us."

"Agent, I want to but that is impossible. I must launch every ship from Firebase Hogsmead that I can before the Republic arrives." Moen says frantically.

"Okay, let me make myself crystal clear. If you don't save a ship for my troops and I, I will hunt you down, rip your balls off, and shove your testicles where your eyes go!"

Moen freezes in place, his face losing several shades of color and looking absolutely horrified. "Well, when you put it like that." The transmission cuts out.

"Alright, boys. We've got ourselves a ticket out of here, soldiers of fortune. Who's with me!" Illinois shouts as the group reach the floating box-shaped troop transports that dropped the troops off here in the first place.

The troops cheer "Ay!" before boarding the transport with Illinois getting into the driver's seat. Using his experience with utilizing vehicles during the war, he primes the ship's engines and sets it to the Firebase Hogsmead at the fastest speed it can possibly go, with Ron, Cedric, and Hailey running to try and keep up while shooting Arresto Momentum spells at the transport, but they always miss their mark.

* * *

 **11:35 pm Gaia Time (Greenwich Mean Time Zone)**

 **Galactic Republic Acclamator-class warship** _ **Retribution**_

 **Orbiting Gaia**

* * *

Admiral Tarkin stares out at open space, absolutely certain of one thing. If he's going to die today, he will go out taking as many Imperials down with him.

All around the admiral, clone officers are running around in complete panic while the rather fat captain of the capitol ship is trying and failing to keep order among the panicked crew while trying not to freak out himself. Although they all have every right to be scared; the impressive 80 ships that once made up the Republic Invasion Fleet has been reduced to a measly six that are barely holding together after a brutal dogfight with a military that is known to have far more lethal weaponry. If there's any bright spot to this disastrous space battle, it's that only 10 Imperial ships remain of the 50 that had arrived to intercept the Republic Invasion Fleet.

"Captain Ozzel, now!" Tarkin shouts once an Imperial Trireme makes the mistake of trying to ram into the Admiral's ship.

The captain barks the orders and all of the ship's remaining turbolasers start blazing at once, hitting the Trireme in a part of the ship where the armor has been severely damaged after another Republic Venator had desperately tried a ramming maneuver, but ended up getting torn to shreds quickly. The Trireme starts buckling under the impact of the concentrated fire and miniature explosions rock the inside of the ship, resulting in the entire ship ripping itself apart and adding the scraps that remain to the vast graveyard of ships that float all around them.

The deck officers cheer slightly in triumph, but they are quickly silenced when sparks start flying from the control consoles and the lights immediately go out, the systems so far gone that not even the emergency lights kick in. They were so distracted by destroying a single vessel that they failed to notice the infamous Imperial flagship, the _Black Phoenix_ , pointing towards them and firing an EMP round into the side of the ship. Tarkin glares at the black ship with a defiant gleam in his eyes as the gargantuan black ship's main cannon starts glowing again. "If you think you will get any satisfaction from my death, you will be sorely disappointed." Tarkin says, placing his hands behind his back and never taking his eyes off his ship.

A long moment passes, but instead of seeing a flash of white and facing oblivion, the light dies out in the _Black Phoenix_ , which turns towards the open space and starts flying away from them. Then the ship enters Beamspace and like that, the ship is gone.

No one made a move; in fact, they all just stood there, dumbfounded, as every other Imperial ship also turned towards open space and after the remaining fighters returning to the ships, also entered Beamspace to flee. The small batches of Republic fighters and the remaining warships just hang in space, uncertain of what to do next. "What just happened?" Captain Ozzel asks, walking to the front of the bridge and looking out into space, still stunned. Even Tarkin felt genuine surprise for the first time in a long time.

"Perhaps something happened on the surface that we are unaware of." Tarkin muses, rubbing his chin. Before he can figure out what is going on, the entire ship suddenly buckles to the port side. Everyone stumbles heavily, but Tarkin manages to remain on his feet by grabbing the holotable. He looks outside and sees the ship heading towards the planet.

"Everyone, get to the escape pods. We must abandon ship!" Ozzel shouts and follows a squad of clones as they start making their way to the escape pods. Tarkin lets out a slight sigh at Ozzel's antics, though as Tarkin looks back at the planet and sees the front of the ship glowing orange with flakes of outer plating flying off, the idea of evacuation is not the Republic captain's worst idea. The admiral then follows the last of the deck officers to the escape pods as he hears numerous explosions going off inside the capitol ship, causing further damage.

* * *

 **6:35 pm Gaia Time (Eastern Time Zone)**

 **Tulum Sith Training Academy**

 **Tulum Village**

 **Mexico**

* * *

Clone Commander Wolffe ducks out from the corner of the stout grey building to fire another shot at the Imperial Army and Navy soldiers, led by a powerful Maven code-named Agent Nova Scotia or better known as NS, who are stubbornly standing their ground against the small band of rebels and clones.

One of the Imperial Army soldiers is standing farther from the rest of his squad, thinking that his different angle would give him a better opening through-which to shoot at the rebels. But Wolffe manages to shoot the soldier in the foot using a plasma rifle he picked up from the corpse of an Imperial trooper who protected the Academy. The plasma shot tears through the man's right foot, making him fall to the ground and clutch the stump where his foot used to be in agony.

One of the members of the Guardia Rural decides to take advantage of the opening to step out of his cover and try to kill the downed trooper, but he receives the brunt of seven plasma shots from a small group of Imperial Navy soldiers; each shot sends a large wave of blood flying backwards and splattering on the ground. "No!" A female rebel shouts, tears streaking down her face but she turns back to the fight and starts firing upon the Imperials with a greater hatred.

Wolffe then turns to the only other living member of the Wolfpack. "Boost, I need another thermal detonator!"

Boost stops firing and slips his Republic-issue backpack off his back and pulls out a final detonator. "Sir, this is our last one. We need more explosives if we are to win this fight."

"Understood." Wolffe replies, then looks towards Juan Rodriguez, the leader of the Guardia Rural, who is hiding behind a large building that is built like a modern library with his two children, ex-Imperials Jorge and Antonia. "Juan, we're almost out of detonators. Do you have anything?"

Juan looks back at Wolffe, and the clone commander could see the smirk forming on his face. "Mi amigo, we've only got the best improvised bombs in all of the Americas. Manuel!" He shouts, looking towards his second-in-command, a man with shiny silver spurs on his ankles, red pants and a white shirt under a red jacket, topped off with a wide-rim red hat pointing a plasma pistol at the troops. The man himself has a darker skin tone, his dark hair tied back into a ponytail, and dark beady eyes*. "Get to the Communication unit and give the order. It's time we gave our little gifts for these hijo de putas."

The man sneers slightly, "Alright, brother. Let's make these bastards suffer." He then breaks from his cover and starts running to a larger group of rebels who are hiding inside of an apartment complex of sorts where the windows are all shot out. The Imperials don't get a chance at trying to kill the man because the two clones simultaneously get out of cover and start firing upon the soldiers.

Manuel arrives at the small group and after a long period of time, the Guardia Rural start cheering and certain members of the three remaining groups pull of their backpacks and handing out long steel grey cylindrical tubes with a black wick on the top. "Brilliant idea, Dad." Jorge says, "Come on, Antonia. Let's keep Scott busy while these bombs finish them off." His twin nods and they use the Force to jump to the top of the building.

"What are those things?" Wolffe asks, having a feeling that the improvised bombs are far worse than they look.

"Well, let's just say these las bombas have sent them running in the past." Juan says, then pulls a lighter out of his jacket and lights the wick up. He instantly throws it into the air and it lands at the foot of a soldier protecting the base of the re-modeled Mayan Pyramid that looms over all other buildings in the Academy.

"Meth bombs! Gangway!" The man shouts in terror before jumping to the side before the bomb explodes, sending a light blue mist floating out in all directions.

Before the fight can continue on, they finally notice their personal communicators and the black beeping light on it. They look at each other and their commander, and Wolffe doesn't even need a Jedi to know that they are freaking out at something more than the meth bombs being thrown at them. "Jesus Christ! What do we do!" A Navy soldier shouts.

"We fight. We will fight with everything we have left to make sure our brothers and sisters live." NS says coldly, then turns towards his former comrades as they continue taunting him by flashing the middle finger at him while making cat calls. NS can't take the taunting any longer, so he whips out his lightsaber with the blade being curved so as to resemble a katana, and also uses the Force to leap into the air to try and kill the twins. The rebels don't take on the Imperials, as they are busy pulling black gas masks invented before Kadabra conquered Gaia over their faces.

Wolffe has no time to watch the duel between the three Force-users in awe before he and Boost catch a meth bomb that Juan throws them and after he lights both of their wicks up, the two clones throw them at the Imperials. They follow their orders and stand their ground, although they start to lose numbers. The two meth bombs fly over the green energy shield of another soldier and collide with her helmet, and she screams in pain before falling onto her back. Her comrade then lifts up his plasma rifle and notices the group of rebels hiding in the residence building, one of whom is lighting another meth bomb.

The Imperial then throws his energy shield aside and shoots the bomb as the rebel is about to throw it. The make-shift weapon explodes in his hand, a light mist flowing out of the apartment complex. Wolffe decides that he has seen enough suffering for these rebels so he charges out of his cover with Boost at his side, and the other rebels deciding to also throw caution to the wind and charging forward. The Imperials become officially alarmed by their courage and start backing up into the Temple while continuing their plasma fire, occasionally taking a break to put in new plasma cells.

Wolffe runs right up to the closest Imperial and fires in his face, melting the mask off. The commander then pushes past him and leaps onto a Navy trooper, firing onto the soldier's chest and leaving deep gashes in the aqua-colored armor. All around him, the remaining rebels and Boost get up-close with the last troops and start beating them down.

Eventually, one last Imperial Army sergeant remains, standing at the entrance to the Pyramid. He lets out a war cry and pulls out a sharp combat knife with a black rubber handle before activating it and throwing it. It goes flying towards Juan, but before it can make its mark, Jorge runs towards his father as fast as he can and pushes him aside at the last second. Boost makes it to the sergeant and punches the plasma rifle before ripping his helmet off and beating him to the ground. Wolffe turns around and truly takes in the sight of what he had participated in for over half an hour. The once-beautiful campus that made up the Sith Academy is now another battlefield, the ground torn up or blackened with small pillars of smoke rising into the air and corpses of rebels and Imperials alike lying on the ground, with the corpse of the Maven the twins fought riddles with bullet holes and hanging upside down from the top level of the building he fought on. Only five members of the Guardia Rural managed to survive the battle, excluding the twins. The leader of the rebel cell holds the former Maven tightly in his arms, a deep stab in his chest with the blood-soaked knife lying on the ground and his helmet pulled off to reveal his long face, brown eyes and sporting his own mustache, albeit smaller.

The two exchange words the commander couldn't hear, before the younger soldier leans his head back on the ground and lets out his final breath.

His twin sister, Antonia, runs towards them. While she still has her helmet on, Wolffe can tell that she is staring at her brother's corpse, and time seemed to slow down for a split second. Then, she lets out a battle cry and marches towards the unmasked sergeant who is still alive, but on his knees, and being held prisoner by Boost. The clone steps aside, not wanting to get anywhere near what is about to happen. Antonia then starts punching the man's face over and over again, venting all of her grief into the Force-enhanced attacks. She then lifts him up and prepares to deliver a much more powerful punch to his face before he starts chuckling.

By the time she lifted him up, both of his cheeks were swelling up and beet red, with half a dozen teeth knocked out and a concussion. "What's so funny?" Antonia asks coldly.

"Your stupidity. While you waste your time on us, my people shall escape and live on." He then chomps down violently on something on his back right molar. A large amount of foam starts forming in his mouth and he hisses in pain. "The Empire shall live on. Count on it." He then goes limp in Antonia's arms, foam dripping from his mouth to the ground.

"Cyanide." Antonia says coldly, throwing the corpse aside. "Coward."

"Well, it doesn't matter. We have freed our home from the Imperial scum." Manuel says, smiling slightly.

Juan and Antonia glare at Manuel, but they don't get to say anything before another surviving member of the Guardia Rural shouts at them. "Commander, we are receiving a transmission on all Imperial channels. Code Black is in full effect."

The rebels look at each other with wide eyes, barely comprehending what they heard. "Am I missing something? What does it exactly mean?" Boost asks.

"It means the Emperor is dead and all Imperials must evacuate." She replies, looking decades younger than she is.

"Oh, skrag." Boost replies, also awed and happy the Jedi managed to complete their objective. "Then if that means they're running, we've won. We've freed Gaia."

"No." Wolffe speaks up, making everyone look at the battle-hardened clone commander. He, however, is standing at the edge of the cliff and looking out at the ocean. They can see many explosions in the distance, reminiscent of the fight that is still going on, including a Republic Acclamator falling from the sky ablaze. However, what truly stands out from the brutal battle that is still going on is the large black shuttle that resembles Apollo 11 launch from a battleship off the coast, smoke flying in all directions as the ship rises higher and higher into the air. "One of the biggest lessons this war has taught me is that this fight is not over until one side stands while the other falls."

* * *

 **November 24** **th**

 **8:05 am Gaia Time (Mountain Time Zone)**

 **Chihuahua Desert**

 **New Mexico, United States of America**

* * *

"Come on, people. Just one more hill to go." Lieutenant Alan Temple shouts, turning around to face his troops from the top of the hill. Once, there were 150 Imperials in the small party, but now, only a hundred Imperial Army and Navy soldiers are marching in single-file line in a zig-zag fashion through the brutal desert that they had been marching through for many days. Their base had been destroyed, and their shuttle along with it, although Temple remembered his old days.

In the years before he fought with the Empire in the Clone Wars, he was assigned to the Truman Space Center, built in the vast desert of New Mexico for two purposes. It was built as an experimental facility used by the ISD from before Kadabra's reign that found a way to effectively mass produce the Beamspace drives. It also serves as a massive prison for the most dangerous criminals on Gaia or aliens who smuggle themselves onto the planet via Imperial ships to be used as test subjects. Luckily, only once has a group of aliens managed to slip through the barricade. While Temple guarded the base from intruders and trying to survive death by insanity with the help of his best friend George Biff and another friend he made, a ladies' man by the name of Arnold Buckey who was re-assigned to the Navy after hitting on his commanding officer one too many times. Temple remembers seeing an emergency shuttle that would always remain docked at the station unless an urgent emergency occurs; such as a coordinated attack by rebels, a successful prison break, or the dreaded Code Black. His best hope is to go to the base to either find the shuttle or a transport that will take them to a base that has a shuttle.

Several members of the party let out a groan at hearing that. It doesn't exactly take Sherlock Holmes to figure out that the soldiers under his command are starting to lose moral faster than they are blowing through food and supplies as they fend off rebels and the occasional clone patrol, defeating the last remnants of Imperial resistance. If things continue the way they are going, then what could happen would make the scene at Alder Creek look like sunshine and rainbows. "What if you're wrong, Temple?" The female trooper third in the line says angrily, stomping forward. "I believe that you have no idea where we're going."

"Come on, babe. Don't get turned on like that." Buckey says, wearing the typical Navy armor and holding a plasma rifle calibrated for longer range combat. "Unless you want to see my collection again."

"Shut your flapping gob, Buckey!" She snaps back, the turns to Temple. "You've been leading us through a god-forsaken desert, and it's always one more hill for you. If you won't tell us, all of us, where we are going, then I will nail your balls to a cactus patch." She then points her rifle at Temple's head. Fortunately for Temple, he has a better quick draw so he is able to pull out his lucky combat knife Tyrant, flip it in his hand, and point it at her throat.

They stand off for several minutes, with the other Imperials staring in awe. Before it can escalate any further, Buckey intervenes. "Hey, hey. Cool off, guys. Check it out." He then points to the distance. Temple and the female Sergeant decide to look in the distance, and at the base of the valley below them is a sprawling concrete base that rises several feet above the ground, with the top level forming a launch pad where a shuttle is docked and waiting for them. Surrounding the shuttle are massive distillery-shaped containers which hold fuel for the ship.

The woman then lowers her rifle from Temple's face. "Looks like you were right after all. Let's just get off this rock." She then starts walking to the base, smacking her shoulder against Temple's. He scoffs and is about to make a sarcastic response when Buckey notices something that makes him tackle her to the ground. "What the fuck is…" He shushes her then starts crawling forward. Curious, Temple holds up a closed fist, which the other troops respond by getting down on the ground. Buckey then stops starts crawling back to his superior. "The Republic has taken that base."

"What!" Temple whispers back, rage building up in him.

"Yup. I count at least five clones on the outside wall."

"Nice sight. I guess you've got only one good thing about you." The sergeant adds with disdain in her voice.

"Well, I had to stock up on carrot chips to get good eyesight because Temple wouldn't let me use the sniper rifle for good shit. I remember one time…"

"Enough." Temple says, not wanting to hear this humiliating story at the moment. "We can talk about that shit when we're on the ship." He then looks to the side and sees a docked Camel battle tank in all its glory between two AT-TEs that are also at the base. "Those tanks will tear us apart. Sergeant Andersmith, get that Camel on-line and blow those Republic tanks away before they blow us away. Private Cronut will accompany you. I will lead the rest of the troops and we will fight their way to the shuttle and start finding a way to release the emergency locks. Now go."

The duo near Temple nod and start crawling back to the main group to inform them of the decision. Within a minute, Andersmith and Cronut, an Imperial Army rookie who has exceedingly strange tastes if his Barbie collection doesn't show it, start making their way down the hill and towards the Camel. Temple then lifts up Tyrant and starts marching towards the base. The five clones stop talking and point their weapons at Temple, the AT-TEs turning away from the shuttle they were about to destroy and towards the Imperial.

"How's it going, boys?" Temple asks, still holding their undivided attention.

"How did you find this place?" One of the clones shouts.

"Well, I was looking for a gas station so I could take a piss, but I think this place will suffice."

"Enough talk!" Another clone shouts, wielding a blaster cannon. "Let's slag this scumbag."

"Oh, I wouldn't do that." Temple replies, smirking under his helmet. "I think killing you sounds really good right now."

"Yeah?" The clone asks back. "You and what army?"

Temple then lifts up his open hand. "This one." He then thrusts his hand forward. With a mighty battle cry, the Imperials break from their cover and start charging towards the base, firing their blaster shots. The clones could barely register the surge of Imperials, many of them dying quickly. The AT-TEs are about to fire upon the Imperials, but the docked Camel lifts up its head, and the turbo cannons on the side of the Camel's head open fire upon the AT-TEs, blowing them one of them up instantly and the massive sheet of metal from the blown up tank impales the clone in the other, making both tanks collapse to the ground.

"Hut hut hut hut hut hut!" The troops shout as they march towards the tower, climbing up the yellow emergency ladders and to the launch pad where their escape awaits. Temple, along with Andersmith and Cronut, also climb up the levels and are about to enter the open shuttle, but then they hear the sounds of opening hatches underneath.

"Oh, you've got to be fucking kidding me." Temple growls.

"Wait, we've prisoners here?" Andersmith asks, getting more and more concerned. "Who are they?"

"Only the biggest and baddest motherfuckers to ever grace existence." Just then, the massive deflector doors open and four dozen clones run out of the base, firing back inside as a massive swarm of frail humanoids with long pointed and furry ears charging out of the base. "Zygerrians."

"Aw, they remind me of my kitty." Cronut says, "But what are they doing here?"

"The Empire already considers them scum of the galaxy. I guess the Director figured they would make good test subjects." Temple replies. This is perhaps an understatement of the century. The Emperor's hatred of slavery was well-known throughout the galaxy, so when he led his legions to conquer a system called Kiros four months into the war and learned that the Zygerrian Slave Empire was being reborn by taking advantage of the chaos from the Clone Wars, he officially painted a target on the Zygerrians. Now, any Zygerrian male or female or even child are being hunted down and killed or brought to unknown locations for interrogation to learn about CIS intelligence. This mass genocide of the slavers is so wide-spread and bloody for the Zygerrians that the new Slave Empire collapsed before it could ever be truly re-established and almost all Zygerrians have been wiped from the galaxy, with the exception of their homeworld Zygerria.

The clones continue to fire upon the Zygerrians, who despite losing numbers and some collapsing due to a clear deprivation of food and water, are still able to gain ground until the closest ones reach the clones and start beating them up violently, some of them even taking large bites out of the clones. "Get your asses in here!" One of the Army troopers shouts from the ramp leading to the open shuttle as the soldiers finish unlocking the emergency locks and smoke starting to billow up from the pit below the thrusters.

Buckey looks at the direction of the skirmish and flinches. The Zygerrians had heard the Imperials at work, glaring at the troops while one of them is glaring at Buckey specifically. After all, Darts D'Nar has never forgotten the Navy Trooper who had captured him when the Zygerrians tried to gather more slaves for auction from the Ventus System, a little-known system on the very edge of the Outer Rim. To make the image even more horrifying, blood is dripping from the mouths of the Zygerrians, after having feasted on the clones. "My people! Stop that Imperial scum for daring to interfere with our rightful place in the universe!" The Zygerrians let out cries of rage, which almost sound pitiful in their weakened states, and they start charging towards the emergency ladders that take them to the launch pad.

Temple looks around for something, anything, that would help him to kill off the massive swarm of angry prisoners. He then notices one of the three portable containers no doubt filled with rocket fuel and he instantly knows what to do. "Buckey, hold those shitheads back. I have an idea!" Temple shouts then starts running towards the tank. Buckey looks very confused by his superior's logic, but points his plasma rifle at the steps that resembles a fire escape and lets loose multiple shots as the Zygerrians start to arrive at the top. Temple makes it towards the tank and jumps onto it, pulling out Tyrant and slashing it against the latch on the side. Temple then walks to it and pulls on the valve with all his might and succeeds. The valve pulls open and tons of rocket fuel rapidly pools out of the tank and spilling on the ground in all directions. Many of the already-weakened Zygerrians slip and fall on their faces once the rocket fuel reaches their feet. Temple instantly makes a mad dash to the open ramp, where Buckey is backing into the shuttle along with the last of the Imperials. One of them had gotten careless by standing his ground and trying to kill the former slavers, and the poor fool never had a chance once the starved humanoids reached him.

Temple makes his way to the front of the crew and runs up the ramp. "Launch!" He shouts as Sergeant Andersmith slams her fist into a button on the side, sealing the ramp.

"Um, do you mind explaining to me what the fuck you just did?" Buckey asks, ignoring the Zygerrians as they slammed their fists into the side of the ship. Suddenly, there is a loud rushing sound as the thrusters fully activate and the ship starts lifting off the ground. The younger soldier nearly recoils when he hears the sounds of something burning violently and loud screaming. "You used the excess rocket fuel to burn those bastards alive." He says, sounding almost horrified.

"Hey, look on the bright side, buddy. Their type has a fetish for burning shit. Karma just decided to bite them in the ass today." Temple replies, then starts climbing up the maintenance elevators to rejoin the rest of the surviving Imperial squads. "Kai, please keep yourself safe. I will take our home back one day." He mutters, thinking about his wife that he left behind when he volunteered to defend her and the rest of his people from the corruption that is rooted in every corner of the Republic and Separatist alliance.

* * *

 **November 29** **th**

 **6:15 pm Gaia Time (Greenwich Mean Time Zone)**

 **Buckingham Palace**

 **London, England, Europe**

* * *

Leia Haggar walks down the long, marble-floored corridor that is covered with enormous deep red carpets. The walls are velvet colored, lined with marble Greek columns and crystal chandeliers hanging from the concave ceiling.

The detail that went into designing the legendary palace in England almost amazes the Jedi Knight, as it reminds her greatly of the Jedi Temple in some regards. Since the palace that was re-modeled using a wider assortment of materials and decorations from multiple European nations and the design used during the reign of Queen Victoria.

The Jedi Knight continues to walk down the vast hallway, deep in thought. Contrary to what many people believed, the fight against the Empire did not end with the Emperor's death. In fact, the fighting lasted for so long that it was only the previous day, with thousands of Imperial soldiers escaping the planet with their lives or a handful throwing down their weapons and cheering for their freedom. The battle was extremely hard-fought, and not without cost; hundreds of clones and rebels giving their lives, as well as the near-annihilation of the entire Republic Invasion Fleet. As for the Jedi, they have all spent many days at a local hospital to recover from their fight at the Jedi Church, which had sunk back under the surface an hour after the Emperor had died.

Some Jedi members like Mace Windu were spared from serious injury and he returned to the battlefield to fight against a rather large patch of loyal Imperials, soldier and civilians, based out of Russia. Others weren't so lucky; Leia was comatose throughout the entire week, suffering 10 broken ribs, a broken left arm, a fractured skull, a damaged larynx, and enough bleeding to render her comatose in the first place. While Sander fared better overall, he also came dangerously close to death from the poisoned slash to his chest though his wounds healed much faster for reasons Leia still can't comprehend. Actually, this is the first time she will be with her padawan since coming out of her coma.

She continues walking down the corridor until she reaches the room at the far end of the wall. Lifting up the only arm that is not bound to a cast, she knocks on the door. Sander doesn't respond, but she can hear him talking with someone on the other side of the door. "I've got to go, Casey. Thank you for everything." She could hear Sander say, then he shouts, "Come in!"

His mentor opens the door, and she is greeted with a somewhat clean room. Her padawan is sprawled out on the massive bed with velvet covering, thin white drapes hanging on either side of the bed, and spread out on the nightstand on the right side of his bed and on the chairs are a total of 52 compact cassette tapes, a plastic case with a red cover with a sword that is being wrapped up by two green serpents staring at the plain gold hilt with their tongues sticking out and the title _Rockin' Album_ printed on the top in silver, coupled with a giant silver box with a handle on the top, two black speakers on either side of the box, the word _Sony_ is printed on the top of the box in black. Despite having modern features, such as having noticeable creases along the speakers so as to fold inward to make it more portable and the front looking like it can be detached to make a portable music player, it has a distinctly retro look to it. "Hey, Sander."

"Morning, Leia." Sander replies, smiling widely as he faces her. He got out of his ridiculous disguise and is back in his Jedi robes, with his brown robes hanging on the back of the chair where the cassettes are sitting in a neat order, with a military-grade Republic backpack leaning against the chair. Even though Sander is wearing robes, the white wrapping that covers his entire torso is visible. "You certainly look better."

"Oh, I've felt better." Leia admits to a boy she considers a son, before letting out a sharp breath and leaning against the doorway. "I could really use a cigarette; Gaia's are just so good. So, who were you talking with?"

Sander looks around. "Could you please close the door?"

Leia raises an eyebrow but walks into the bedroom and uses the Force to shut the door. "What's up?"

"While you were out, I made a new friend. When we were traveling to that island, Manhattan I believe it's called, I listened to this awesome radio voice who goes by the name of Casey Kasem. **He** introduced me to Casey." At the mere mention of **him** , Sander's smile fades and his features darken considerably.

"Who's he?" Leia asks, honestly confused by what Sander is going through.

"That Maven who led us to this planet; he introduced me to Casey. I would rather not even think about that coward right now. He ran when the Empire did things he didn't like, and when he was duped into leading us into an ambush, he still ran away. So, I shouldn't be surprised."

"I'm sure he has his reasons." Leia replies, sitting on the bed and rubbing his back. "Don't worry about it. He made his choice, and while we can help guide others, we can't make anyone do anything."

Her young padawan sighs, flinching slightly and grabbing his chest slightly before the obvious pain goes away. "You're right. But I can't stop thinking about it; if he was innocent, then why did he run? It doesn't make sense, and right now, I've decided to just forget I ever knew him. Anyway, after the battle was over, I was one of the first Jedi to meet the royal family who we are staying with right now." Leia nods, remembering hearing about how a royal family that was evacuated to a distant place called Canada decided to allow the Jedi to stay in their Palace until it was time for the remaining Republic troops to return to Coruscant.

"They couldn't stop thanking us for helping them out, so much so that they even helped me do something I ever thought would happen," Sander continues, his smile returning, "I got to talk with Casey Kasem himself. We've just mainly talked for the last few days, and he even expressed such gratitude for my part in freeing his home that he mailed these to me." He the picks up a cassette tape with the words _January 6_ _th_ _, 1982_ written in black ink as the label. "We have mainly talked via a newly-made video chat program, but those have been the best talks ever, and he even taught me a few lessons about life in general. Oh, he's so awesome!"

Leia stares at Sander with wide eyes, surprised that the boy has truly developed a deep admiration for the man if he is already talking about him so highly already. "Well, I'm glad you admire him. Please put on your shirt and get your things packed up. Windu has to make a departure speech in a few minutes before we leave the planet."

"Okay then." Sander replies, standing up and throwing his shirt back on. His mentor can't help but raise an eyebrow at how calmly he said that since she had mentioned Windu but shrugs and starts walking towards the door. She opens the door and walks back into the vast hallways with Sander filling his backpack with everything he brought with him and throwing on his cloak followed by his bag before following. The duo make their way towards the main entrance to the palace, where fellow Jedi Caleb, Depa, Anakin, Obi-Wan, Ahsoka, and Windu are standing in a horizontal line parallel to the large wooden double doors, all of them dressed in their Jedi robes; except for Ahsoka, who is wearing traditional mandalorian armor though she is not wearing a helmet and her twin lightsabers are hanging at her side.

The Jedi feel the presence of the new arrivals and look up the staircase at the mentor and apprentice standing at the top. "You're late." Depa says flatly.

"Sorry; it took me a while to organize everything." Sander speaks up, walking down the staircase. The duo then join the Jedi at their sides, waiting patiently for when the Jedi are called up.

"So, what's the verdict on Gaia? Will they join us in the fight?" Caleb asks, not having actually been present at the meeting the day before to discuss what comes after this war.

Ahsoka lets out a ragged sigh, annoyance clear in her voice. "They have decided to remain neutral in the Clone Wars for now. Though considering how much damage the clones caused to the people's homes, I can understand them not being ready for war. But I also hate their condition."

"What's that?" Caleb asks, almost dreading the response.

"They said that when the time comes, Gaia will be able to provide support for the Republic during the Clone Wars on one condition; we delete the location of the entire star system from our data banks." Obi-Wan adds, who is looking almost as calm as Windu.

"If we have even a slim chance of gaining a powerful ally, then this sacrifice will be worth it." Windu speaks up, then looks at Sander and his expression softens. "Sander, I want to tell you something."

"Yup?" The boy asks, looking him in the eye.

"You did good out there. Your master taught you well." Windu gives the boy a rare half-smile.

"Well, thank you." Sander answers, smiling back.

While Windu masks it well, he is honestly surprised at Sander's attitude, but before he can inquire further, the doors open to let in a rather bright flash of light, making Sander and Leia hiss in pain and cover their eyes slightly. "It's time." The Jedi Master says, then starts walking up the metal staircase. The other Jedi follow close behind, with Sander looking around anxiously. Once the Jedi reach the top of the make-shift wooden podium, they are greeted with the sight of hundreds, if not thousands, of people cheering for them. At the front of the stage is a glass podium with a microphone sticking out. On either side of the podium are the members of the reformed United Nations, with the British Royal Family being the symbol of the entire planet. What Sander finds interesting, aside from how high the podium is, are the emotions coming from the senators who represent their respective nations; some are truly ecstatic at being free, some are more mixed, while one or two are downright sour about this meeting. While anyone can say they have renounced the Empire, it seems that there are still some sympathizers to their cause around.

The padawan takes his attention away from this discovery and focuses on Windu who is already at the podium and making his statement. "Today, I speak for not only myself, but the entire Jedi Order. Four years ago, a new Empire had been forged on this world and dedicated to the proposition that all beings are equal. However, that was a lie that was created so as to further the Emperor's goal, which is the same goal as every other being like him; total domination of the galaxy. We met on that fateful day when our peoples engaged in a war that has engulfed every part of our lives. Let us never forget the brave warriors who fought in this war, fighting for what they believe in. Let us honor all those who laid down their lives, and the thousand Jedi who gave their lives to protecting the citizens of the galaxy from their own superiors. Despite all the sacrifices we have made to reach this point, they will not have died in vain. When this war is over in every corner of the galaxy, a government created by the people for all of you shall never perish."

The people who listened silently suddenly erupt into thunderous applause and even try dashing towards the Jedi Master, but the red-coated British soldiers who had protected the British Royal Family during their exile manage to hold them back. The vast majority of them compensate by throwing their hats into the air and continue cheering. Even the other Senators start cheering, though the two who Sander sensed bitterness from about the whole speech clap half-heartedly.

"Thanks for everything. We are in your debt." The new leader of Gaia, King Pius**, one of the only children of Diana, Princess of Wales, to survive the Emperor's takeover, says. His wife, Queen Cassie Hawking**, a daughter of the brilliant astrophysics professor Stephen Hawking and twin of the noted novelist Lucy Hawking, is off in the crowd and shaking hands with other UN members.

"Don't worry about us. Without your people's help, we would not have been able to win at all." Kenobi says, shaking Pius's hand next. Anakin scoffs slightly, but then notices that he can't see Ahsoka anywhere. He looks around rapidly until he notices a speeder driving down the long streets of London and sensing her presence go ever farther. Her former master looks down in slight shame, still wishing that he could have exposed the real culprit behind the bombing at the Jedi Temple sooner.

"Of course. While people around the world take in the news of the Empire's ultimate defeat, I will work with my people on rebuilding our homes from the fight."

"Yes, and while you do that, we have to get going soon. We still have a war to win." Anakin states.

"Of course. I will have my drivers take you to your fleet." Pius then taps his ear and starts talking with the person on the other line. "Yes. Our guests would like transport to their ships. Of course."

"Thank you, your Majesty. It has been an honor." Windu says, bowing respectfully. The Jedi then make their way off the podium and towards the green speeder that is based on the X-34 speeders used on Tatooine, only much cleaner, more advanced, and bigger so it can hold all of the Jedi at once. Sitting in the driver's seat is Ronald Weasley.

"Hey, mates. What's going on?" Ron asks, waving at them.

"We would like to go meet up with the gunships, Mr. Weasley." Windu states, getting into the second row of seats. Ron waits until all of the Jedi are seated and instantly takes off, managing to avoid the vast crowds of people who are trying to catch up with them.

"This is too easy." Sander speaks up, stating his suspicions that have been building for a while now.

"What?" Leia asks, a little confused.

"The Empire's so-called defeat. I can't help but feel deep down that they will be back."

"You are just being paranoid right now." Windu replies. "Besides, even if they did return, we will find a way to defeat them. The Dark Side is strong, but the light will always prevail." Sander can't help but find himself suppressing a scoff at that statement.

After a silent drive where everyone took in the scenery, the speeder arrived on the outskirts of a town called Chelmsford where a dozen Republic gunships are either docked or flying towards the ground on flat grassy plains in a solid formation. The last remaining clone troopers are marching on-board the ships. "Thanks for the ride." Depa says, jumping out of the ship. The other Jedi also get out and make their way to the ship.

"Heh. Good luck out there. You'll bloody well need it." Ron mutters before making his way back to London.

The Jedi reach the base of the ship where the clones Rex and Cody are watching the clones marching onto the gunships, and when they notice the Jedi, they crisply stand at attention. "Good to see you alright, General." Cody says, looking towards Kenobi.

"Oh, we're all a bit worse for wear." Kenobi answers. "Have you gotten any response as to how the rest of the Empire is taking the news of their Emperor's death?"

"Yes, sir." Rex adds, stepping forward. "It seems like there is a broadcast system that was sent out to all Imperial bases. Either they are fleeing from their stations or they're throwing their guns down and coming home. General Secura also sent her gratitude from the former Imperial base on Carlac. She was afraid they would send reinforcements to crush her fleet that was nearly destroyed taking the planet in the first place."

"Very good, Rex." Anakin says then places a hand on Rex's shoulder. "Have you seen Ahsoka's ship by any chance?"

"Ahsoka?" Rex asks, completely surprised. "No, sir. I don't know where her ship is."

Anakin lets out a slight sigh, saddened by that news; although he isn't really surprised, given how the Council treated her. "Very well. Get all troops and supplies loaded up and let's get off this planet."

"Yes, sir!" Rex snaps back, then starts marching to the gunship with Cody in tow. The Jedi decide to go their separate ways onto different gunships. Sander pauses for a brief moment, looking out at the grassy cliffside that overlook the English Channel before entering one of the gunships, the blast doors closing behind him and the gunship wasting no time in lifting off the ground. After several long and tense minutes, the blast doors re-open and they are onboard one of the last five Venators to survive.

"Come on. Let's go see if the Admiral made it." Anakin says after stepping out of his gunship with Kenobi, Rex, and Cody following behind.

Waiting for them at the bridge is none other than Admiral Tarkin, surrounded by clone officers as they prime the ship for immediate take-off. "Ah, Generals. I was wondering when you would get here."

"We had to set aside time to make a farewell speech before they would let us go." Windu snaps back. While the Jedi Master admits that Tarkin is an effective leader, he doesn't really like the Admiral's attitude regarding the Jedi.

"Ah. I see." Tarkin replies, stroking his chin in thought.

Just then, a clone officer walks up to Tarkin. "Sir, we are receiving a transmission from Commander Krennic."

"Put it through." Tarkin replies, a hint of bitterness in his voice. It is well known that Commander Orson Krennic, who is also a representative of the Republic Strategic Advisory Cell, regards himself as a rival of Admiral Tarkin. However, Tarkin is far from happy with this belief and remains unimpressed with Krennic's work, even though he discovered a way to use scales from the Zillo Beast that was killed by the Republic months ago to upgrade the armor so as to be more resistant to blaster shots.

Tarkin walks to the holo-table where the image of a pasty-skinned, dark-haired man wearing a standard Republic officer outfit is standing tall. "Commander," Tarkin speaks up, his distaste well-masked, "what have you found at Artemis?"

Krennic's smile falls slightly. While the bulk of the Republic's forces have been busy defeating the last Imperial forces or returning officers to the ships, Tarkin used the communicators that still worked to contact Krennic and order the Commander to attack Artemis and gather as much intel from the ISD headquarters as he could. "Nothing. Everyone that was stationed at the base had been evacuated by the time I arrived with Commander Ponds. Most of the data had been scrubbed and the Director of the ISD is nowhere to be found."

Tarkin frowns slightly at what he saw as another sign of the commander's incompetence. "But," Krennic adds, "Not all of the data had been destroyed. I was able to recover some data on how their Beamspace drives can operate. That, and using the drive that we recovered from a downed ship, we now have a chance to discover how their means of transportation works without blind speculation and disastrous consequences."

Tarkin mulls over that piece of news for a brief moment. "Very well, then. It seems like your trip wasn't a complete waste of time. Maintain your position, we will come and pick you up."

"Admiral." Another clone officer says after walking up to him once the transmission is cut out. "All troops are loaded onto the ships. All stations have reported that we are ready to go."

"Bring us around to Artemis." Tarkin says, then stares out the front of the bridge as the ships soar towards the moon of Gaia, where a single gunship can be seen heading to a separate Venator. "So, General Skywalker, what are your orders now?"

"Take us back to Coruscant. There, we will receive our orders on where we are needed from the Chancellor. We may have won the battle today, but the war is far from over. And I will not stop until that day comes."

* * *

 _AN:_ Well, this is it. The end of my story. It has been a long road, one that I have enjoyed going on, and the view is pretty good from up here.

Thank you, my dear readers, for all the support you have provided me and I hope to do as good on this project, if not better, on future ideas I have in mind.

Now, let the "Goodbye, Everybody" marathon begin! (Please read my profile to understand what I'm talking about.)

*Consider this my tribute to Rooster Teeth's newest show, Nomad of Nowhere. Nothing about the pilot for that show didn't make me smile.

**Okay, yeah, I'm not too happy about this choice; I wanted to use real-life people for this part. But since I'd rather not get in unnecessary trouble with the website since describing a real person (not mentioning their names) is forbidden last I checked, it's compensation.

Star Wars belongs to Disney (with the franchise's concepts rightfully belonging to George Lucas) and Harry Potter belongs to JK Rowling. Also, rest in peace, Casey Kasem and Stephen Hawking.

PS: To answer all your questions and frustrations about last chapter, here's a little something extra for you all regarding the upcoming story, "Remnant's Rebels."

* * *

 **November 29** **th**

 **2000**

 **5:15 pm Gaia Time (Central Time Zone)**

 **Docking Bay 001**

 **Star Forge II**

 **Undisclosed Location**

* * *

"Director." Admiral Hermione Granger says, walking towards the former Director of the ISD. He is leaning against a railing that overlooks one of hundreds of docking bays, the octagonal panels on the ground a dull grey and forming a perfect square.

"Report." Drakon says, not even looking at his second-in-command. He watches as the shuttle rocket soars through the void of space before passing through the gravitational well that separates the docking bay from open space. Several of the panels suddenly split open and reveal claws that grip the landing mechanisms of the ship. The docking bay shield doors snap closed and the side of the shuttle splits open to reveal the Imperial troops who are inside.

"That was the last of our ships that we should be expecting. Right now, we have five million Imperial soldiers that managed to arrive at the base and on standby. Grand Admiral Vizsla has not reported in for the last few days, and I have felt something in the Force about him."

"A decent start. I felt that same disturbance; we felt Grand Admiral Vizsla dying at the hands of a savage monster. That is why you will be taking his place. Follow me, Grand Admiral." Drakon then turns to the left and starts walking towards the open security doors with Granger following close behind, still reeling about her sudden promotion.

"Director, permission to ask you a question?"

"Granted."

"When are we going to strike back at the Republic and Separatists? We can't let our home remain in incompetent hands."

"I agree, but I have a plan as to what our next step is. We leave our current location and head to Point Beta. There we will establish a position and wait until we are ready."

Granger pauses to stare at her comrade, who is wearing a grey suit with a black tie under a silver overcoat. "What? But sir, I read every scrap of data. We may need more supplies and O2 within a year, but according to everything I've seen, we have the ships, manpower, and weapons needed to strike back now."

"I admire your courage, Grand Admiral, but I have my reasons."

"I assume that it's personal, then." Granger accuses.

"Partially. The eventual supply shortage is why we will wait and gather our strength for 15 years; by then, Chancellor Palpatine will have grown strong, yet assured that no one will dare challenge him. That way, when we do reveal our presence to the galaxy, we will strike a merciless blow at him, crush his people, and prove that we can beat him at his best."

The duo then stop in the middle of the grey corridor, a thin beam of yellow light glowing down at them. Both walls are flat, but the left wall is grey while the other wall is a pitch black. "Also, Drakon continues, "we are not as ready weapons-wise as you believe. We may want to get back at the traitors and aliens, but we will be crushed in our current state and the Emperor's vision will be lost. So, we will also spend our years preparing our weapons so they are even better than when we fought. I have schematics on how to upgrade our plasma cannons, how to make plasma more efficiently, and there's more. Let me show you something." He then walks to the right side of the stretch of the black wall and touches the bottom of a small panel running vertically and slides upward.

The black wall lifts up and reveals an enormous bay that is at least a hundred feet long, and several hundred feet tall. On either side of the view are massive construction bays where enormous metal titans are being made, each one is different than the other. In the center of the construction bay is Thanatos Infinity, its chaingun being ripped out and a newer, futuristic chaingun with a single coating to protect the three barrels inside being lowered by a metal claw. "It's beautiful." Granger admits, seeing the mechs being made. She then focuses her attention towards the back of the bay, where the Emperor's personal mech, Tiel, is strapped to a table and its weapons are being polished.

"Indeed. Dr. Aiyanna certainly knows how to build powerful weapons for our people. She has personally promised me that the Thanatos Project will provide 20 Thanatos-model mechs with enough power to decimate entire armies, but that they won't be ready for at least 15 years. Once they are completed, they will be assigned to the last Mavens who are on this station."

The duo then move on from the massive construction area after Drakon lowers the shades. "How about the Emperor's children? And the other Force-sensitives?"

Drakon lets out a breath. "I thank the Force that Admiral Moen actually saw past his ego for once and rescued as many Force-sensitive children as possible before Code Black went into full effect. Many of the children could use training to truly consider themselves part of the Sith Order, but they all show potential. Oswald and Cindy Peverell particularly show immense promise right now, but only time will truly tell how they develop." They then reach an elevator where the doors slide open. They walk into the elevator and the cylindrical door slides closed.

"State your name and which floor you wish to go to." An automated voice says, but this one sets Granger on edge a little because this voice is masculine rather than the usual feminine automated voices. Something about this voice also feels strangely familiar to her.

"Director Drakon. I wish to go to my personal office."

"Of course, Director." The elevator then rides up many levels at an abnormally fast rate until the door swings to the right and reveals the spacious office that is the size of a suite. In the center of the circular room that resembles the Oval Office is a metal desk with a data pad laying on it, a black screen in the middle of the table so as to receive personal transmissions, and a metal chair facing it, the inside of the chair covered in a light blue gel.

"That was a good talk, Grand Admiral. Tell the flight crew to set course to Point Beta. I will provide the coordinates momentarily." Drakon says, then walks towards the chair.

"Of course. Have a good day, Director." Granger says stiffly, obviously disagreeing with some of the things Drakon has said before the elevator seals shut.

The Director walks towards the chair as it slides back and leans back into it, letting out a sigh of relief. He then leans forward, turns on the screen at his table, and stares at the coordinates he selected to make an ideal base for the remnants of the Empire; at least, those who remain loyal to the Director, unlike Clan Saxon and their leader Gar. After running through the data and feeling satisfied with his choice, he sends it to the flight crew so as to send the Star Forge II into Beamspace.

"Well?"

The Director lets out a slight sigh. "I have laid out your orders exactly as you requested. Everything is going as you wish."

"How are the kids progressing?"

"They are doing well, considering how both of their parents died. My sources show that given the right push, they will be true Sith by the time they hit their teenage years. And their power right now is almost equal to Delphi Riddle."

The voice chuckles darkly. "Excellent; that girl has always shown immense potential. What of my new body?"

"The Kaminoans are hard at work creating the perfect artificial body. They are experiencing…difficulties with it and how to run it at the efficiency of a normal human body. It shouldn't be an issue, though, considering how we made you from where you came."

"They will need a brain and blood in order for that to truly become reality. That is why our first target when we will be ready is our home-world. Let them celebrate their petty victory, and we will test the reformed United Nations' resolve. We hold one of their own ransom and demand the Emperor's body."

"Once you have the body, my Emperor, you will lead our people to glory while the Republic falls and the Jedi are crushed, either by us or whatever Darth Sidious is planning." Drakon then looks down at his monitor. The screen turns from the normal dark blue screen saver showing the English Channel to a black screen with numerous white dots glowing on the screen. Within seconds, white lines start forming between the dots and start inter-connecting with each other. By the time it is finished, the lines have formed a blocky human face with a single eye glowing a volcanic orange color.

"Yes. I will never sleep, I will never stop until Sidious is at my knees and I see crushing defeat in his eyes. I want him, and the rest of my enemies, to feel pain unlike anything they have ever known ever. Count on that, Director."


End file.
